George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

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FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


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3 


AND  ON  THE  ADVANTAGES 


OF  THE 


NATIONAL  WORK. 


i^ioHcnvEOiisriD: 

GEO.  W.  GARY,  BOOK  &  JOB  PRINTER,  1217  MAIN  STREET. 
1  8  7*  1  - 


With  Itespects  of 

E.  LORRAINE, 

Eng'r  and  SupH  J.  M,  &  JST.  Co. 


THE  FLOWERS  COLLECTfOM 


41  ST  Congress,  )   HOUSE  OF  KEPEESSNTATIVES.  C  Ex.  Doc. 
3d  Session.     3  (  'No.  110. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


ILi  IE  T        E  ±5; 

FROM 

THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR, 

IN  ANSWER  TO 

A  resolution  of  the  House,  of  February  3,  relative  to  the  survey  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  CanaL 


February  11, 1871.— Referred  to  the  Coraniittee  onComraerce  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT,  February  9,  1871. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  in  compliance  v/ith  the  resolution  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Eebruar}^  3,  1871,  has  the  honor  to  submit 
the  accompanying  report  of  the  Engineer  Department  upon  the  survey 
of  the  James  River  and  Kanav^^ha  Canal. 

WM.  W.  BELKNAP, 

Secretary  of  War. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF  OF  ENGINEERS, 

V/ashinglon,  1).  C,  February  S,  i870. 

Sir  :  In  answer  to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  3d  instant,  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transrijit  a  copy  of  the  re- 
port of  Major  W.  P.  Craighill,  Corps  of  Engineers,  upon  the  examina- 
tion of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Can;ii,  uiade  under  authoiity  of 
the  second  section  of  the  act  of  July  1  1,  18'/0,  making  appropriations 
for  rivers  and  harbors.  The  object  of  this  examination  was  to  obtain 
additional  information  upon  the  questions  of  practicability  and  cost  of 
opening  a  continuous  water  communication  betvreen  Richmond,  Virginia, 
and  the  Ohio  River. 

In  1868,  the  engineer  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  Com- 
pany advised  the  adoption  of  a  new  summit  level,  in  the  event  of  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  work,  which,  by  the  use  of  a  tunnel  nine  miles  in 
length,  would  reduce  the  elevation  of  the  summit  and  the  length  of  the 
canal. 

The  operations  of  Major  Craighill  during  the  past  season  were  con- 
fined to  a  survey  of  this  tunnel  line  and  its  approaches,  and  to  such  ex- 
amination of  the  routes  westvfard  from  that  point  as  the  time  and  money 
at  command  would  permit.  In  his  report  he  designates  the  best  position 
and  extent  of  the  summit  for  passing  the  mountains ;  the  facilities  and 
diificulties  to  be  expected  in  its  execution  ;  recom.mends  the  enlai-ge- 
ment  of  the  canal  to  70  feet  width  and  7  feet  depth,  with  locks  120  feet 


2 


JAMES  RIYER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


by  20  feetj  and  submits  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  money  and  time 
required  to  complete  the  tnnnol  and  its  connections  between  the  mouth 
of  Fork  Run  (the  end  of  the  company's  definite  location)  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha  Rive]'^  as  well  as  for  the  enlar>i;ement  of  the  canal  from 
Richmond  to  Fork  Run.  He  deems  the  question  of  practicability  as 
definitely  settled  by  the  data  furnished  from  these  examinations^  and 
that  the  cost  of  this  great  undertaking  V70uld  be,  in  round  numbers, 
$50,000,000. 

Additional  surveys  will  be  necessary  for  the  definitive  determination 
of  the  location  in  detail,  for  which  a  sum  of  not  less  than  S 25,000 
would  be  required. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 

Brigadier  General  and  Chief  of  Engineers. 
Hon.  W.       BELKNAP,  Secretary  of  "^ar. 

UNITED  STATES  ENGINEER  OFFICE, 

Baltimore^  Maryland^  January  27,  1871. 

General:  The  law  of  July  11,  1870,  authorised  the  survey  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal.  On  the  25th  of  July  notice  was  re- 
ceived that  the  charge  of  that  survey,  with  others,  as  well  as  of  several 
works  of  river  and  harbor  improvement,  had  been  committed  to  me. 

The  object  of  the  survey  was  to  throw  additional  light  upon  the  ques- 
tions, first,  of  the  practicability,  and  second,  of  the  cost,  if  practicable, 
of  opening  a  continuous  line  of  navigable  water  between  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  the  Ohio  River,  vfhich  would  admit  of  almost  unlimited 
extension  by  the  James  and  Ohio  Rivers  and  their  connecting  waters. 

The  season  for  field  work  was  already  far  advanced  at  the  date  of  the 
passage  of  the  law.  Some  time  was  necessarily  consumed  in  securing 
the  services  of  suitable  persons  to  whom  might  be  given  the  charge  of 
the  survey,  from  participation  in  which  I  was  excluded  by  other  duties. 

The  work  naturally  divided  itself  into  two  parts,  and  two  parties  were 
speedily  organized.  Mr.  Walter  Gwynn  Turpin  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  examination  of  the  line  of  the  canal  from  Richmond  to  Buch- 
anan, with  a  view  to  a  determination  of  the  cost  of  its  eulargement  to 
a  size  which  would  adapt  it  to  th^  extended  use  it  would  receive  when  it 
became  a  link  in  the  great  central  water-line  between  the  Atlantic  slope 
and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  To  Mr.  William  R,  Hutton  was  as- 
signed the  duty  of  ascertaining  the  best  manner,  if  any  existed,  of  con- 
tinuing the  communication  by  water  from  the  end  of  the  old  canal  to 
the  waters  of  the  Ohio  River.  These  gentlemen  have  devoted  all  their 
energies  to  the  wurk,  keeping  the  field  until  the  last  moment,  and  col- 
lecting a  large  mass  of  most  valuable  information.  They,  of  course, 
made  free  use  of  the  reports  and  surveys  of  their  able  predecessors  in 
the  investigation  of  the  subject  before  them.  It  has  been  considered 
desirable  to  sum  up  at  once  the  results  of  the  survey  of  1870, 

The  reports  of  Messrs.  Hutton  and  Turpin  are  accordingly  transmit- 
ted herewith.    I  refer  for  details  to  them. 

The  central  water-line,"  as  it  is  commonly  called,  is  a  project  con- 
templating the  completion  of  a  continuous  line  of  water  communication 
from  the  w^aters  of  the  Ohio  River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  to 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KAXAWHA  CANAL. 


3 


the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  Atlantic,  at  the  mouth  of 
James  River,  in  Virginia.  The  necessity  for  some  such  line  as  this,  as 
a  means  of  cheap  and  certain  commercial  intercourse  between  the  great 
producing  regions  of  the  West  and  the  Atlantic  coast,  has  long  been 
advocated  and  urged  upon  public  attention  by  various  persons  and  par- 
ties of  ability  and  influence.  That  there  now  exists  no  direct  line  of 
water  communication  between  the  Mississippi  Basin  and  the  seaboard, 
is  an  nndeniable  fact ;  and  it  is  equally  true,  thfit  of  the  two  circuitous 
and  indirect  routes  now  in  use,  the  northern  is  subject  to  interruption 
by  ice,  and  the  southern  to  a  degree  of  heat  highly  prejudicial  to  the 
preservation  of  the  staple  articles  of  transportation. 

The  general  position  of  the  route  for  this  desired  communication 
seems  to  have  been  approximately  located  by  common  consenl;  since  the 
first  inception  of  the  idea,  constantly  modified,  however,  m  detail,  both 
as  to  location  and  mode  of  transportation,  as  the  wealth  and  require- 
ments of  the  two  sections  increased.  The  original  idea  contemplated 
simply  a  navigation  in  bateaux  of  the  rivers  on  the  east  and  west  of  the 
Aileghanies,  and  the  passage  of  the  mountains  by  a  tarnpike  road. 

The  requirements  of  to-day  demand  a  canal  of  large  size  and  a  navi- 
gation for  vessels  of  several  hundred  tons  burden. 

The  location  referred  to  for  this  line,  commencing  at  Richmond,  (the 
head  of  open  navigation  on  James  River,)  follows  the  valley  of  that 
stream  and  its  head  tributaries,  to  the  base  of  the  Alleghany  raouncains; 
thence,  passing  through  or  over  them,  it  descends  the  headwa,ters  of  the 
Greenbrier,  New  and  Kanawha  Rivers,  and  down  the  latter  to  the  Ohio. 

The  first  surveys  for  this  route  were  made  in  1817-'! 9,  contemplat- 
ing a  slack-water  navigation  for  bateaux  of  two  or  three  feet  draught, 
and  a  portage  over  the  mountains.  The  next  were  made  in  1326-'2S 
by  Captain  McNeil,  United  States  Topographical  Engineers,  for  a  canal 
and  slack-water  navigation,  passing  thu  mountains  by  a  tunnel  2y\mile3 
long,  at  au  elevation  of  1,916  feet  above  tide.  Subsequent  surveys  and 
examinations  were  made  at  various  times  by  engineers  of  ability  and  re- 
putation, but  the  general  plans  and  locations  of  McNeil  remained  un- 
changed. 

As  early  as  1785,  a  company  was  organized  for  the  improvement  of 
the  James  River,  and  some  efibrts  were  made  to  vv'ard  effecting  a  better- 
ment of  the  navigation  of  that  stream.  In  1832  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  Company  was  incorporated,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
old  company  were  transferred  to  the  new.  In  1336  they  commenced  the 
construction  of  a  canal,  having  in  view  the  connection  of  the  waters  of 
the  James  and  the  Ohio  Rivers.  Their  line,  as  located  and  partially  con- 
structed, commences  at  Richmond,  with  a  large  dock  and  tide-water 
connections ;  extending  thence  up  the  valley  of  the  James  River, 
through  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan,  a  distance  of  1961  miles,  including 
159 J  miles  of  canal  and  36|  miles  of  slack-water  navigation,  which  is 
now  completed  and  in  working  order.  Thence  it  follows  up  the  valleys 
of  James  and  Jackson  Rivers,  to  Covington,  on  the  latter  stream,  a  dis- 
tance of  47  miles,  of  which  41  miles  is  canal  and  6  miles  is  slack- water 
navigation.  This  portion  has  been  located  and  its  execution  was  con- 
tracted for,  but  it  is  not  as  yet  entirely  completed. 


4 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  CANAWHA  CANAL. 


From  CoviFigton  the  line,  as  projected  to  the  Greenbrier  River,  (SSJ 
miles  distant,  on  the  western  slope  of  the  mountains,)  crossed  Jackson 
Kiver  as  a  canal,  and  ascending  Dunlap's  Creek  at  the  base  of  the-  Alle- 
ghanies,  followed  Fork  Run  to  the  summit  level,  where  it  pierced  the 
mountains  by  a  tunnel  2.6  miles  long,  at  an  elevation  of  1,916  feet  above 
tide.  It  descended  thence  the  valleys  of  Tuckahoe  and  Howard's  Creeks 
by  canal  to  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  down  which,  as  well  as 
down  the  Kanawha,  slack- water  navigation  v/as  projected  to  the  Ohio,  a 
distance  of  200  miles,  making  a  total  distance  from  Richmond  of  486.13 
miles. 

The  large  number  of  locks  required  to  attain  this  summit  level,  and 
the  consequent  consumption  of  lime  in  transit  by  this  route,  induced 
examinations  to  be  made  with  a  view  to  finding  a  better.  In  I8G8,  Mr. 
E.  Lorraine,  the  Engineer  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company, 
advised  the  adoption  of  a  new  location,  which,  by  the  use  of  a  tunnel  9 
miles  in  length,  reduced  the  elevation  of  the  summit  level  216  feet, 
thus  making  it  but  1,700  feet  above  tide.  This  change  saved  3 J  miles 
in  actual  length  of  canal,  and  40f  miles  of  equated  lengthy  considering 
the  saving  of  time  in  lock-ages,  and  cost  of  working  and  repairs. 

The  operations  during  the  last  season  were  confined  to  a  survey  of 
this  tunnel  line  and  its  approaches,  and  to  such  examinations  of  the 
routes  westward  from  that  point  as  the  time  and  money  at  command 
would  permit.  The  results  have  been  to  determine  definitely  the  po- 
sition and  extent  of  the  tunnel  for  passing  the  mountains  ;  the  fiicilities 
and  difficulties  to  be  expected  in  its  execution  ;  and  to  enable  an  approx- 
imate estimate  to  be  miade  of  the  money  and  time  required  to  complete 
the  tunnel  and  its  connections  betv/een  the  mouth  of  Fork  Run  (the  end 
of  the  company's  definite  location)  and  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  Ri- 
ver. 

The  canal,  as  already  constructed,  has  a  width  at  water  line  of  50 
feet,  and  a  depth,  originally,  of  5  feet.  As  these  dimensions  would 
prove  too  limited  for  the  new  and  extended  line,  surveys  were  also  made 
last  season,  with  a  view  to  its  enlargement  to  the  dimensions  proposed 
for  its  extension  westward  fi^om  m.outh  of  Fork  Run,  viz  :  70  feet  width 
at  w^ater  line,  v/ith  a  depth  of  7  feet,  the  enlarged  locks  to  be  120  feet 
between  the  gates  and  with  20  feet  width  of  chamber. 

The  line  which  I  hava  now  to  recommend  commeeces  at  the  mouth  of 
Fork  Run,  ascends  that  stream  b}:'  a  caoal  of  the  dimensions  just  given, 
v/ith  six  locks  of  12  feet  lift  each,  to  the  summit  level  at  1,7U0  feet 
above  tide.  It  then  pierces  the  miain  range,  passing  under  Tuckahoe  and 
Katis  Mountains  by  a  tunnel  7.8  miles  long,  with  a  section  of  52  by 
34i  feet,  being  46  feet  wide  at  water  line  and  7  feet  deep.  It  emerges 
into  the  valley  of  liovvard's  Creek,  which  it  descends  to  the  Greenbrier, 
by  three  locks  of  10  feet  lift  each. 

From  this  point  the  canal  ceases,  (except  in  two  cases,  where  short 
sections  occur,)  and  a  continuous  slack- water  navigation  is  projected 
down  the  Greenbrier  to  New  River,  and  down  New  River  to  Lyken's 
Shoals,  on  the  Kanawha,  85  miles  above  its  mouth.  To  eifect  this,  will 
require  fifty-five  dams,  var^-ing  in  height  from  12  to  40  feet,  and  in 
length  from  200  to  600  feet.  These  are  proposed  to  be  built  of  masonry 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


5 


and  provided  witli  locks,  &c.,  of  suitable  size  and  dimensions  to  pass 
vessels  from  one  pool  to  another.  From  Lyken's  Shoals  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha,  open  navigation  is  proposed,  the  fall  throughout  the 
length  being  equalized  by  low  dams  at  regular  intervals,  having  sluices 
to  permit  the  passage  of  vessels. 

The  estimates  for  this  work  (given  below)  contemplate  the  construc- 
tion of  the  whole  in  a  substantial  manner,  proportionate  to  its  import- 
ance and  the  gravity  of  the  results  vvhich  would  attend  any  stoppage  of 
its  use,  caused  by  failures  in  its  mechanical  structures. 
From  mouth  of  Fork  Run  to  Greenbrier,  at  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek,  ex- 


clusive of  tunnel   $2,383,474 

Tunnel,...  o..   13,253,310 

Down  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers   13,243,641 

Down  Kanav>'ha  River,  (85  miles)  ,   973,900 

Ten  per  cent,  contingencies   2,986,420 


32,840,645 

From  Richmond  to  Fork  Run   14,781,644 


Total   47,622,299 


The  idea  of  connecting  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  slope  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi Y alley,  by  joining  the  head-waters  of  the  Jarnes  and  Ohio  Stivers, 
has  long  been  entertained  by  distinguished  men.  It  is  certainly  a  very 
attractive  project,  from  its  simplicity  and  from  the  grandeur  of  its  re- 
sults, both  in  a  physical  and  commercial  point  of  viev/.  It  is  far  older 
than  railroads,  and  so  the  use  of  the  canal,  as  the  means  of  connection, 
was  proposed.  When  the  railroad  was  introduced,  public  attention  was 
turned  in  that  direction,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  canal,  although  still,  in 
this  case,  the  intention  was  simpl}^  to  have  the  railroad  a  short  link  be- 
tween the  head-waters  of  the  James  and  the  Kanawha.  This  railroad 
is  building  and  extending  beyond  the  limits  of  its  first  design,  so  as  to 
become  soon  one  of  the  great  competing  lines  of  communication  of  this 
kind  between  the  East  and  the  West. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  increase  of  facilities  for  transportation 
which  have  been  created  in  the  past  twenty  or  thirty  years,  the  great 
Yv'est  and  Northwest  have  overrun  them  in  their  exuberant  productive 
capacity,  and  after  testing  all  other  routes  by  rail  and  existing  canals 
and  lakes  and  rivers  across  the  continent,  and  by  river  and  gulf  to  the 
Atlantic,  are  calling  loudly  fur  the  construction  of  a  great,  cheap,  short, 
national  highway,  to  carry  to  market  their  surplus  products.  This 
voice  must  be  heard  and  heeded.  The  national  character  of  this  work 
is  demonstrated  by  the  statement  just  made. 

If  a  river  existed  along  the  whole  extent  of  the  proposed  route  of  the 
water  line,  it  would,  unquestionably,  receive  from  the  General  Govern- 
ment such  improvement  as  it  needed.  This  connection  belongs  to  the 
same  class  of  works  as  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  on  the  Ohio 
River,  and  the  improvements  of  the  Des  Moines  and  Rock  Island  Rapids 
on  the  Mississippi. 

As  our  great  and  growing  country  expands,  in  accordance  with  its 
magnificent  and  manifest  destiny,  toward  the  North  and  toward  the 
South,  and  its  extremities  become  more  remote  from  each  other,  it  will 
be  well  to  have  some  great  national  work  in  the  geographical  center^ 


6  JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 

attracting  thither  public  attention  and  interest  and  capital,  and  conse- 
quent strength  and  power,  and  binding  to  it  and  to  each  other,  by  these 
strong  cords,  the  distant  extremes. 

The  question  of  practicabUily  is  settled  by  the  data  furnished  by  the 
reports  hereto  attached.  They  determine  also  that  the  cost  will  be,  in 
round  numbers,  $50,00i),0i)().  A  most  interesting  feature  of  the  work 
is  the  great  tunnel.  A  few  years  ago  men  would  have  been  appalled  at 
that  undertaking  alone. 

The  recent  completion  of  the  Mount  Cenis  Tunnel  in  Europe,  and  the 
rapid  progress  now  made  with  the  execution  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  in 
this  country,  with  the  experience  gained  in  these  works,  and  the  im- 
proved facilities  daily  coming  into  use  for  carrying  on  such  operations, 
induce  us  to  approach  such  an  undertaking  as  the  making  of  the  Lor- 
raine Tunnel,  not  only  without  apprehension  of  failure,  but  with  a  feeling 
of  assured  certainty  of  success.  It  is  no  longer  an  extraordinary,  but  an 
ordinary  undertaking.  The  Lorraine  Tunnel,  by  the  last  location,  de- 
rived from  the  survey  of  1870,  vnll  be  7.8  miles  in  length.  The  length 
of  the  Mount  Cenis  Tunnel  is  7^  miles ;  that  of  the  Hoosac  being  4J 
miles.  The  Lorraine  Tunnel,  from  the  circumstances  of  its  position, 
will  take  a  shorter  time  for  its  execution  than  the  Mount  Cenis  and 
Hoosac  Tunnels,  although  longer  than  either  of  them.  See  especially 
the  remarks  of  Mr.  Hutton  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  of  Mr.  Lorrainej 
and  of  Mr.  Latrobe. 

It  is  needless  for  rne  to  refer  to  the  engineering  details  of  the  whole 
work,  which  are  suihciently  discussed  for  present  purposes  in  the  reports 
of  Mr.  Hutton  and  Mr,  Turpin  and  in  the  able  paper  of  Mr.  Lorraine. 
Neither  is  it  necessary,  perhaps  it  would  not  be  proper,  for  me  to  repeat 
in  detail  the  arguments  which  have  been  so  elaborately  advanced  by 
many  able  minds  as  to  the  commercial  advantages  of  the  proposed  work. 
See  several  of  the  attached  papers. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  day  of  canals  is  past.  Facts 
do  not  sustain  this  view.  There  is  no  doubt  that  for  ordinary  passenger 
travel  and  m-d'aj  kinds  of  freight  the  railroad  will  be  properly  preferred 
as  the  means  of  transportation,  and  the  business  thus  naturally  failing 
to  the  railroads  is  enough  to  pay  handsomely  on  their  money  value. 
But  there  is  no  question  that  when  the  circumstances  are  such  that 
slowness  of  movement  is  permissible  and  the  quantities  to  be  moved 
large,  the  cheapness  of  the  canal  becomes  obvious  to  every  one  who 
chooses  to  consider  the  statistics  of  the  case.  This  has  been  true  even 
when  the  canals  have  been  used  simply  as  a  part  of  the  machinery  of 
political  parties.  If  managed  with  honesty  and  for  the  ends  for  which 
they  were  intended,  their  ability  to  carry  freight  more  cheaply  than 
railroads  is  beyond  dispute.  It  is  unquestionable  that  the  Erie  Canal 
has  been,  is  now,  and  will  continue  to  be  a  most  valuable  piece  of  prop- 
erty to  the  State  of  New  York,  notwithstanding  the  immense  develop- 
ment of  competing  railroad  lines.  Its  contemplated  re-enlargement  is 
the  best  proof  that  can  be  given  of  that  statement. 

The  Pennsylvania  Canal  is  so  valuable  to  the  great  railroad  controll- 
ing and  working  it  that  it  is  currently  reported  to  be  on  the  eve  of 
enlargement. 


JAMES  EIVEE  AKD  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


7 


The  Carjadian  governments  are  moying  seriously  in  the  direction  of 
a  great  enlargement  of  their  canal  system. 

The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Ccnal,  notwithstanding  its  limited  capacity 
and  consequent  want  of  adaptation  to  economical  working,  and  that  it 
connects  with  nothing,  is  a  formidable  rival,  as  far  as  its  legitimate 
business  is  concerned,  of  the  powerful,  rich,  and  ably  managed  organi- 
zation known  as  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  whose  preponderating 
influence  is  so  widely  felt  and  so  generally  recognized. 

A  great  means  of  intercommunication,  like  the  central  water  line, 
which  will,  by  cheapening  the  cost  of  their  delivery,  cheapen  the  cost  to 
consumers  of  the  important  articles  of  food  and  fuel,  which  are  neces- 
saries of  life  for  all,  both  rich  and  poor,  while  not  diminishing,  but  in- 
creasing the  receipts  of  producers,  becomes  an  object  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  the  nation. 

By  cheapening  the  cost  of  delivery  of  many  of  the  chief  articles  of 
export  at  the  great  commercial  cities  of  the  Atlantic,  it  facilitates  our 
competition  in  foreign  markets,  and  assists  in  giving  us  the  balance  of 
trade,  and  becomes  in  this  view^  also  a  most  interesting  object  from  a 
national  standpoint,  and  well  worthy  of  the  attention  and  assistance  of 
the  National  Government. 

Some  interesting  extracts  are  introduced  below,  taken  from  a  speech 
of  the  Hon.  W.  Lawrence,  of  Ohio,  delivered  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives May  23,  1870.  The  object  of  the  speech  was  to  dem^onstrate 
the  necessity  for  the  provision  of  additional  means  of  transportation  for 
the  products  of  the  Northwest,  and  to  show  the  greater  cheapness  of 
transportation  by  water  over  that  of  rail.  The  ultimate  object  of  the 
speech  was  to  induce  congressional  action  in  the  direction  of  gaining 
free  access  to  the  ocean  for  Western  products  by  the  way  of  the  Cana- 
dian canals  and  the  St.  Lawrence  R.iver.  His  arguments  as  to  the  ne- 
cessity for  additional  means  of  exit  to  the  ocean,  and  as  to  the  greater 
c!ieapness  of  a  water  route  over  the  rail-road,  apply  equally  to  the  cen- 
tral water  line  and  to  the  line  whose  adoption  he  was  advocating ;  but 
the  central  water  line  has  the  great  advantages  of  shortness,  compara- 
tive non-interruption  by  ice,  and  freedom  from  the  dangers  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  lakes  and  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  of  being  in  the  heart 
of  our  own  country. 

Extracts  from  speech  of  Eon.  W.  Loroyrence^  of  Ohio,  in  the  House  of  RevresentativeSf 

Mai/  23,  1870. 

****** 

But  in  regulaticg  trade  on  this  continent,  as  well  as  with  the  nations  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  we  should  not  oTerlook  the  great  interests  of  the  producing  and  laboring  portion 
of  our  citizens. 

C-RAIX-PRODUCING  STATES. 

^  The  great  grain-producing  States  of  the  Central  West,  are  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Iowa,  with  a  population  of  prohahly  eleven  mil- 
lions. 

****** 

The  grain  product  of  the  United  States,  including  wheat,  corn,  rve,  oats,  &c.,  in  the 
year  1865,  was  1,343,027,868  bushels,  valued  at  81,118.904,376.  Of"  this  the  product  of 
wheat  was  151,999,906,  and  of  corn  867,946,295  bushels. 


8 


JAMES  RIYER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


The  Wheat  product  of  1868  was  224,000,000  bushels,  of  which  32,000,000  were  used 
for  seed,  164,000,000  consumed  in  the  United  States,  and  28,000,000  exported.  The  pop- 
ulation, product,  amount  consumed,  and  surplus,  were,  in  the  States  bordering  on  the 
lakes,  as  follows : 


States. 

jistimated 
population, 
*186B. 

Wheat  raised, 
1868. 

Consumed. 

Surplus. 

Total  

2,955.673 
1,804,985 
1,128,513 
2,519,268 
1,011,082 

382,465 
1,021,260 

256,650 

Bushels. 
17,050,000 
17,366,000 
16,012,000 
28,560,000 
22,660,000 
14,500,000 
20,300,000 
1,637,00 

Bushels. 

14,117,000 
9,933,000 
7,132,000 

13,630,000 
7,434,000 
3,349,000 
6,875,000 
1,279,000 

Bushels. 
2,933,000 
7,433,000 
8,880,000 
14,930,000 
15,226,000 
11,151,000 
13,425,000 
258,000 

11,079,896 

137,985,000 

63,749,000 

74,236,000 

*  :*i  *  «s  *  * 


PRICES — HOW  DETERMINED, 

The  amount  which  a  Western  farmer  realizes  for  a  bushel  of  wheat  depends  on  two 
circumstances,  the  price  in  the  controlling  market  and  the  cost  of  transporting  it  there. 

Though  England  buys  but  a  small  part  of  our  wheat  product,  yet  she  consumes  the 
largest  part  of  our  wheat  export,  and  the  Liverpool  wheat  market  controls  the  price  in 
New  York,  Toledo,  and  Chicago,  very  much  as  the  price  of  our  national  bonds  at  Am- 
sterdam and  Threadneedle  street  determine  the  price  in  the  United  States,  or  as  Wall 
street  determines  the  prices  of  gold  at  Cincinnati.  The  gentleman  from  Missouri  [Mr. 
Asper]  has  shovvu  this  in  his  speech  of  March  30,  by  quotations  from  the  New  York 
Journal  of  Commerce  of  March  22. 

The  price  of  wheat,  then,  in  Liverpool  has  an  effect  upon  the  whole  wheat  product  of 
our  country  far  beyond  the  export  demand.  With  this,  then,  as  the  initial  point  in  fix- 
ing prices,  it  requires  no  argument  to  prove  that  the  cost  of  carrying  wheat  from  the 
place  where  it  is  produced  to  Liverpool  will  be  deducted  from  the  Liverpool  price,  and 
the  producing  farmer  will  receive  only  the  residue. 

Dr.  TYiliiam  Elder,  until  recently  in  tlie  Treasury  Department,  recognising  this  fact, 
in  a  pamphlet  just  issued  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff,  says  : 

"  Putting  a  bushel  of  red  winter  wheat  at  $1  39,  (nine  shillings  per  hundred  pounds,) 
its  price  in  Liverpool  on  Christmas  eve,  1869,  we  find  its  value  in  gold  to  the  Western 
farmer  by  the  following  deduction : 

Cents. 

"  Carriage  from  Chicago  to  New  York  <.   30 

"  Marine  freight   •  >  »  •   16 

"  Marine  Insurance   2^ 

"  Commission   3 

/'Handling  c...   2 

"  Charges  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool   53^ 

*♦  To  this  must  be  added  the  expense  of  placing  it  in  Chicago,  (from  place  where  pro- 
duced :) 

Currency. 

♦*  Storage  and  commission  -   5 

"  Insurance  and  loss  •   0| 

"  Carriage  to  Chicago  ■>   -  

Handling   •  3 

18^ 


"  Equal  in  gold  to  15-|  cents. 

"  Total  deduction  from  price  in  Liverpool,  69  cents,  leaving  to  the  farmer  61  cents  m 
gold — 73  cents  currency— per  bushel." 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


9 


FREIGHT  AND  DEALERS'  PROFITS — MODE  OF  TRAXSPORTATION. 

The  secretary  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  has  fnrnished  to  the  Bureau  of  Statistics 
a  table  showing  that  during  the  winter  months,  in  the  absence  of  canal  and  lake  compe- 
tition, rail-road  freight  from  Chicasco  to  New-York  reaches  nearly  thirty  cents  a  bushel 
for  wheat.  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  ■ 

The  great  cost  of  constructing  and  operating  railroads  is  such  that  they  cannot  com- 
pete with  canal,  lake,  river,  or  ocean  transportation  for  heayj-  freight.  In  a  report  made 
by  Hon.  Israel  T.  Hatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  January,  1867,  he  says,  in 
House  Executive  Document  No.  78,  second  session,  Thirty-Ninth  Congress,  p.  4  : 

An  elaborate  investigation  shows  the  following  results  as  exemplified  by  a  fair  com- 
parison of  the  relative  cost  of  transportation  by  rail  and  the  other  means  of  conveyance 
best  kno^^^l  in  the  United  States  : 

"  By  rail  costs  733.3  per  cent,  greater  than  ocean  transportation  ;  by  rail  costs  525  per 
cent,  greater  than  over  great  lakes  ;  by  rail  costs  215  per  cent,  greater  than  Erie  canal, 
(enlarged ;)  by  rail  costs  400  per  cent,  greater  than  over  Hudson  River." 

But  the  T\'estern  producer  is  liable  to  suffer,  not  merely  by  reason  of  the  necessarily 
great  cost  of  rail-road  transportation,  but  by  extortionate  charges  rendered  practicable 
by  the  monopoly  of  the  recent  immense  railroad  combinations,  and  by  the  want  of  ade- 
quate rival  and  competing  routes  and  modes  of  transportation. 

With  rail-road  freight  costing  about  thirty  cents  to  transport  a  bushel  of  wheat  from 
Chicago  to  New- York,  beside  other  charges,  by  far  too  large  a  share  of  the  product  is 
taken  from  the  farmer,  and  he  needs  cheaper  transportation. 

Will  it  be  said  the  lakes,  the  Erie  canal,  and  the  Hudson  to  New  York. do  or  will  fur- 
nish all  that  is  necessary  ?  ******** 

The  annual  tax  now  imposed  upon  the  people  of  the  West — these  enormous  charges 
for  tolls  and  freight,  profits  of  dealers,  all  deducted  from  the  final  market  price  of  pro- 
ducts, reducing  the  amount  the  producers  receive — ought  not  to  be  longer  endured  if  it 
be  practicable  to  avoid  it. 

*-*****♦  +  ♦* 

Freights  can  be  reduced,  and  thus,  even  without  any  increase  in  the  price  of  wheat 
at  its  ultimate  market,  give  to  the  producer  more  of  tha.t  price  than  he  now  receives, 
********** 

The  gentleman  from  New  York  [Mr.  Bennett]  has  told  us  that^ — 
*'In  1836  the  surplus  breadstufFs  exported  by  the  lake  and  the  Erie  Canal  were,  alto- 
gether, 1,239,351  bushels,  including  flour  estimated  as  wheat.  In  1860  the  movement 
eastward  by  every  avenue — by  canal,  by  railroad,  and  by  the  St.  Lawrence  River — had 
attained  the  magnitude  of  76,652,486  bushels,  and  in  1862  its  enormous  aggregate  was 
137,667,870." 

And  referring  to  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  he 
says  : 

"In  1840  the  cereal  products  of  these  States  amounted  to  267,265,877  bushels.  In 
1850  they  had  increased  to  434,862,661  bushels;  in  1860  to  679,031,559  bushels  ;  and  in 
1870  we  sh>all  probably  find  them  aggregating  about  a  thousand  million  bushels." 

A  considerable  portion  of  all  this  increasing  product  must  find  an  Eastern  market, 
and  to  all  this  must  be  added  lumber,  wool  and  other  products  of  Western  soil,  mines, 
forests,  workshops  and  factories. 

The  export  of  Indian  corn  to  foreign  countries  in  1868  was  11,147,490  bushels,  valued 
at  S13,094,036,  and  336,508  barrels  of  Indian  meal,  of  the  value  of  $2,068,430. 

With  the  rapid  growth  of  Western  products  for  export,  more  and  greater  routes  of 
transportation  must  speedily  be  opened  up.  Already  we  have  a  memorial  asking  the 
aid  of  Congress  for  a  ship-canal  between  the  lakes  and  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  Wis- 
consin and  Fox  Rivers,  and  the  country  is  discussing  the  project  of  a  "central  water 
line  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Virginia  capes,  connecting  with  the  Kanawha  and  James 
Rivers;"  one  of  the  publications  in  advocacy  of  which  says  : 

"  Clieap  transportation  is  the  great  necessity  of  the  Yv^'est.  Its  products  exceed  in 
amount  the  means  at  command  of  cheap  outlet  to  the  seaboard,  and  millions  of  Western 
producers  are  placed  under  the  power  of  carriers. 

********** 

Mr.  Bennett  estimates  that  the  reduction  on  freight  by  the  enlargement  of  the  locks 
of  the  Erie  canal — 

"  Would  equal  a  saving  of  $15,000,000  per  annum  on  the  present  movement  of  grain 
eastward  by  the  water  routes." 

On  the  eastward  movement  of  other  articles  it  would  be  a  very  large  sum.  On  the 
westward  movement  of  articles,  the  cost  of  which  would  be  reduced  to  Western  con- 
sumers, the  saving  would  be  a  vast  sum  also. 

♦  *  *  ♦  ♦  *  ♦  * 

In  illustration  of  these  views,  I  present  some  statistical  tables  alike  interesting  and 
valuable  : 

2 


10 


JAMES  RIVEH  AND  KAl^'AWHA  CANAL. 


[From  Eeport  of  the  CMcago  Board  of  Trade.] 
LAKE  (STEAM)  AND  EAIL  FEEIGHTS. 

Weekly  rates  of  freight  by  propeller  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Nevo  York,  for  the 
season  of  lake  navigation  in  1869. 


Week  ending- 


April  24  

May  1  

May  8  

May  15  

May  22  

May  29  

June  5  

June  12  

June  19  

June  26  

July  3  

July  10  

July  17  

July  24  

July  31  

August  7  

August  14  

August  21  

August  28... 
September  4. 
September  11 
September  18 
September  25 

October  2  

October  9  

October  16... 
October  23 . . . 
October  . . . 
November  6,. 
November  13. 
November  20. 
November  27 . 


TO  NEV7  TOKK. 


Flour  per 
barrel. 


80  to 


80  to 


$0  85 
85 
85 
85 
85 
80 
85 
85 
85 

75  to  85 
75 

75  to  80 
75 
75 
75 
65 
65 
75 
75 
75 
75 
75 
75 
75 
75 
85 
95 


65  to 


ei 


55  to 

50  to 

60  to 

50  to 

50  to 

50  to 

50  to 

50  to 

50  to 

75  to 

85  to 

95  tol  10 
1  10 

10  to  1  15 
1  15 
1  15 


Provisions 
and  4th 
class  per 
100  lbs. 


40 


0  42J 

40| 
40t 
to  42^ 
42| 


37  J  to  42| 
37^ 
37*  to  40 
37} to  40 

37^ 
S2§  to  371 
32} 
27J  to  32} 
25  to  37} 
37J 
37^- 
37} 
37-J 
37,} 
37-1 

37.}  to  42} 
42}  to  47  J 
55 
55 

55*  to  57J 
57i 
67J 


Grain  per 
100  lbs. 


$0  42J 
42} 
42i  to  45 
45 

37-Jto  45 
37} to  39 
37} to  39 
40  to  42^ 
42  to  42} 
37A  to  42 

37i 
37-Uo  40} 

37^ 

37^ 
35  to  37} 

35 

30  to  35 
30  to37J 
35  to  37} 
35 

35  to37J 
37^  to  40 
37} to  40 

371 
37  to  40} 
42  to  50 

50 

50  to  55 
55  to  60 
60 

60  to62| 
62} 


JAMES  PJVEH  AKB%ANAWHA  CAJTAL, 


11 


Statement  of  all  rail  freights  from  Chicago  eastward  during  the  year  1869. 


To  what  place  shipped  and  date. 


To  New  York  : 

J anuaiy  1  to  January  lb.,..,. 
January  25  to  February  1  . . . , 

February  1  to  February  9  

February  9  to  February  17  .., 

February  17  to  March  2  

March  2"to  March  11  

March  11  to  April  12  

April  12  to  June  12  

June  12  to  September  21 ..... . 

September  21  to  October  11  ... 

October  11  to  October  IS  

October  18  to  October  27  

October  27  to  November  23... 
November  23  to  December  31. 


To  Boston : 

January  1  to  January  23  .... 
January  25  to  Febraary  1  ... 
Feliruary  1  to  February  9  .., 
February  9  to  February  17  ... 

l'ebruaryp.7  to  March  2  

JIarch  2  to  March  11  , 

March  11  to  April  12  

April  12  to  June  12  

Jane  12  to  September  21  

September  21  to  October  11 .  - , 
October  11  to  October  IS  .... . 

October  18  to  October  27  

October  27  to  November  23... 
November  23  to  December  31. 


To  Portland ; 

January  1  to  January  25  

January  25  to  February  1  ] 

February  1  to  February  9  ..... 
February  9  to  February  17  .... 

February  17  to  March  2  

March  2  to  March  11  

March  11  to  April  12  

April  12  to  June  12  

June  12  to  September  21  

September  21  to  October  11  

Octobei.'  11  to  October  IS  

October  IS  to  October  27  

October  27  to  November  23  

November  23  to  December  31  ., 


To  Buffalo  and  Suspension  Bridge 

January  1  lo  January  25  

January  25  to  February  1  

February  1  to  February  9  

February  9  to  February  17  

February  17  to  March  2  

March  2  to  March  11  

March  11  to  April  12  

April  12  to  June  12  

June  12  to  September  21  

September  21  to  October  11  

October  11  to  October  18  

October  IS  to  October  27  

October  27  to  November  23  

November  23  to  December  31 . . 


To  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  : 

Jannaiy  1  to  January  25  

January  25  to  February  1  

February  1  to  February  9  

February  9  to  February  17  ... 

February  17  to  March  2  

March  2  (o  March  11  

March  11  to  April  12  

April  12  to  June  12  

Jane  12  to  September  21  

September  21  to  October  11... 

October  11  to  October  IS  

October  IS  to  October  27  

October  27  to  November  23  . . . 
November  23  to  December  31 . 


information  furnished  by  the  Secretary  of  Board  of  Trade,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

EDWARD  YOUNG, 
In  cliarge  of  Bureau  of  Statistice. 


12 


JAMES  RIVER  AN#  KANAWHA  CAJTAL. 


Should  it  be  decided  bj  the  national  authorities  to  proceed  with  this 
work,  additional  surveys  will  be  necessary  for  the  definitive  determina- 
tion of  the  location  in  detail.  These  surveys  should  be  immediately 
undertaken,  and  a  sum  not  less  than  $25,000  should  be  appropriated  for 
them. 

The  following  papers  accompany  this  report : 

1.  Report  of  Mr.  W.  G.  Turpin,  dated  December  28,  1870. 

2.  Report  of  Mr.  Wm.  R.  Hutton,  dated  January  21,  1871. 

3.  Printed  pamphlet  on  "  Central  V/ater  Line,"  1869,  in  duplicate, 
containing  the  interesting  and  instructive  paper  of  Mr.  E.  Lorraine,  the 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company.  This  pa- 
per contains  an. important  letter  from  Mr.  B.  H.  Latrobe,  whose  known 
ability  and  experience  entitle  his  opinions  about  the  long  tunnel  to  the 
greatest  weight.  Mr.  Lorraine's  paper  is  prefaced  by  a  very  forcible 
argument  to  show  the  necessity  of  a  central  line  of  navigation  directly 
eastward  from  the  Ohio  River  by  Chesapeake  Bay. 

4.  Memorial  (printed  in  duplicate,  1870)  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia,  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

5.  Printed  report  of  the  Committee  of  National  Board  of  Trade,  on 
the  Continuous  Water  Line,  in  duplicate,  1869. 

6.  Printed  remarks  of  T.  M.  Monroe,  of  Dubuque,  before  the  Ka- 
tional  Board  of  Trade,  in  December,  1868. 

Printed  memorial  of  delegates  to  the  National  Board  of  Trade,  1870, 
Cincinnati — -in  duplicate . 

8.  Printed  report  on  Physical  Survey  of  Virginia,  by  M.  F.  Maurv, 
1869. 

9.  Letter  (printed)  of  Mr.  Joseph  Segar,  on  the  ^^Gre-at  Thorough- 
fares and  their  National  Aspects." — October  1,  1868. 

10.  Extract  from  letter  of  Mr.  E.  Lorraine,  dated  November  28,  1870, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  P.  CRAIGHILL, 

Major  of  Engineers , 

Brigadier-General  A.  A.  Humphreys, 

Chief  of  Engineers  U.  S.  Arrays  Washington^  D.  C. 


Buchanan,  Virginia,  December  28,  1870. 
Colonel  :  This  survey  of  the  eastern  division  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal, 
which  is  made  under  an  appropriation  hy  Congress,  and  by  you  committed  to  my  charge, 
with  instructions  to  "embrace  that  portion  of  the  canal  definitely  located  and  in  use,'* 
begins  at  the  mouth  of  Fork  Run,  in  Alleghany  County,  It  includes  a  portion  of  the 
located  route  known  as  the  fourth  division,  which  extends  to  the  town  of  Covington,  in 
Alleghany  county,  and  is  17.37  miles  in  length.  This  portion  of  the  fourth  division  is 
common  to  either  line  that  may  be  selected  for  the  passage  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
The  third  division  extends  from  the  town  of  Covington  to  Buchanan,  in  Botetourt  county, 
and  is  47.27  miles  in  length.  This  portion  of  the  fourth  division  above  alluded  to,  and 
the  third  division  comprise  a  part  of  the  canal  that  has  been  "definitely  located,"  and  is 
64.64:  miles  in  length. 

The  second  division  extends  from  the  town  of  Buchanan  to  the  city  of  Lynchburg, 
and  is  50  miles  in  length.  The  first  division  extends  from  Lynchburg  to  and  including  the 
basin  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  and  is  146  1-2  miles  long;  and,  with  the  connection 
through  the  city  of  Richmond,  one  mile  in  length,  known  as  the  tide-water  connection, 
comprises  all  that  portion  of  the  eastern  division  "in  use,"  and  is  197  1-2  miles  long, 
making  the  aggregate  length  from  tide-water,  at  the  city  of  Richmond,  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Fork  Run,  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  262.14  miles.  Before 
proceeding  with  the  details  of  the  cost  of  the  respective  subdivisions,  I  will  give  the 


JAMES  AND  -KANAWHA  CANAI.. 


13 


dimensions  wiiich  have  been  assumed  as  the  basib  of  the  calculations  of  the  cost  of  the 
work,  viz : 

A  canal  of  70  feet  water  surface,  and  a  depth  of  7  feet ;  towing-path  12  feet  wide, 
and  a  berm-bank  8  feet  wide  ;  the  interior  slopes  to  be  2  base  to  1  perpendicular,  and  ex- 
terior slopes  n  base  to  1  perpendicular.  The  locks  to  be  120  feet  long  betv/een  the  gates, 
and  with  a  width  of  20  feet  in  the  chamber.  The  locks  to  be  of  cut  stone  throughout, 
and  in  all  respects  of  tirst-ciass  masonry.  The  estimate  contemplates  first-class  work 
of  all  descriptions. 

The  fourth  division  is  located  in  the  valley  of  Dunlap's  Creek,  and  consists  of  4.19 
miles  of  slack-water  navigation  and  13,16  miles  of  canal.  On  this  subdivision  the 
works  of  art  are  thirty -five  lift-locks  and  guard-locks,  having  an  aggregate  lift  of  376 
feet ;  eight  dams,  seven  to  be  built  of  timber  and  one  of  stone,  varying  from  104  to  390 
feet  in  length,  and  ranging  from  10  to  35  feet  in  height ;  thirty-four  road,  farm,  and 
towing-path  bridges ;  one  culvert,  two  waste-weirs,  and  one  waste  ;  one  aqueduct  across 
Dunlap's  Creek,  of  two  spans  of  65  feet  each,  and  one  across  Jackson  River  of  two  spans 
of  100  feet  each,  the  last  one  connecting  it  witli  the  third  division.  The  cost  of  this 
portion  of  the  fourth  division  is  $  2,206,795  45,  or  $  127,048  60  per  mile. 

The  third  division  extends  from  Covington  to  Buchanan,  distant  47  miles,  of  which 
41  miles  are  canal,  and  6  miles  slack-water  navigation.  On  this  division  the  principal 
mechanical  structures  are  thirty -six  lift-locks,  two  guard-locks,  and  one  guard  and  lift 
lock  combined,  with  a  total  lockage  of  436f  feet;  five  aqueducts  across  James  River, 
each  about  320  feet  long ;  aqueducts  across  Long's  Entry,  and  Linking  Creeks,  and 
Pounding  Run,  of  50  feet  span  each  ;  fifty-three  farm,  road,  and  tov/ing-path  bridges ; 
one  towing-path  and  road  bridge  across  James  River,  393  feet  long ;  eleven  culverts 
from  4  to  10  feet  span ;  thirty-three  square  drains,  2  and  3  feet  span  ;  three  dams  across 
James  River  from  250  to  365  feet  long,  one  to  be  constructed  of  timber  and  two  of  stone  ; 
and  two  tunnels — the  Marshall,  1,900  feet  long,  and  the  Mason  tunnel,  198  feet  long — 
by  which  5f  miles  in  distance  are  saved.  The  first  15  miles  of  this  work  above  Bu- 
chanan were  put  under  contract  in  1853,  but  for  want  of  funds  operations  were  sus- 
pended in  1856.  Of  this  work  there  are  completed  ten  lift-locks,  the  abutments  and 
piers  of  three  of  the  aqueducts  across  James  River,  and  the  abutments  and  piers  for 
the  bridge  across  James  River.  The  foundation  of  two  of  the  dams  up  to  the  surface 
of  low  water  have  been  put  in  ;  about  800  feet  of  the  Marshall  tunnel  has  been  exca- 
vated, and  work  as  follows  has  been  completed,  viz. :  the  Mason  tunnel,  two  cul- 
verts, abutments  for  three  towing-path  bridges,  and  several  miles  of  towing-path  on 
the  slack-water  navigation  made  by  the  Catawba  and  Gwynn  dams.  Much  of  this 
work  is  available  for  the  enlarged  dimensions  proposed.  Where  the  dimensions  of  the 
structures  completed  and  begun  are  not  suited  to  the  enlarged  dimensions,  the  estimate 
covers  the  cost  of  taking  down  and  rebuilding  on  the  enlarged  plan.  The  cost  of  this 
division  will  be  §4,036,577  11,  or  $  86,097  38  per  mile.  * 

The  third  division,  and  the  portion  of  the  fourth  division  for  which  estimates  of 
cost  are  submitted,  were  located  with  great  care  by  Mr.  Lorraine,  chief  engineer  of 
the  canal,  after  repeated  examinations  had  been  made  on  every  route  through  the 
valley  of  Dunlap's  Creek  and  Jaciison  and  James  Rivers,  which  onered  any  advan- 
tages for  the  location  of  a  canal.  These  various  surveys  were  made  by  and  under  the 
direction  of  Judge  Benjamin  Wright,  Messrs.  Charles  EUet,  E.  H.  Gill,  Walter  Gwynn, 
and  other  engineers  of  experience  and  skill  in  the  location  and  construction  of  canals. 
The  location,  as  finally  adopted,  is  believed  to  occupy  the  route  olfering  the  greatest 
facilities  for  judicious  and  economical  construction  and  maintenance  of  a  canal. 

My  operations  in  the  field  began  on  the  21st  of  September  last,  and  were  expected  . 
to  include  also  a  survey  of  the  first  aud  second  divisions,  with  a  view  to  their  enlarge- 
ment to  the  dimensions  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  this  report.  The  dimensions 
of  these  divisions  are  generally  a  width  of  50  feet  at  the  water  surface,  and  intended 
depth  of  5  feet  of  water  ;  locks  100  feet  long  between  the  gates,  with  a  width  of  15 
feet  in  the  chamber.  The  survey  of  the  second  division  was  completed,  and  is  50  miles 
in  length,  comprising  22  miles  of  canal  and  28  miles  of  slack-water  navigation. 

The  principal  mechanical  structures  on  this  division  are  37  lift  and  guard  locks, 
having  a  total  lift  of  299  feet ;  four  stone  dams  and  seven  timber  dams  across  James 
River,  varying  from  354  to  850  feet  in  length,  and  from  14  to  36  feet  in  height ;  one 
aqueduct  of  50  feet  span ;  forty-eight  square  drains,  2  and  3  feet  span ;  seventeen 
towing-path  and  farm  bridges ;  one  towing-path  and  road  bridge  across  North  River, 
253  feet  long;  seven  wastes  and  one  waste-weir.  The  estimate  covers  the  enlargement 
of  the  trunk  of  the  canal,  raising  the  towing-path  and  berm  banks,  increasing  the 
height  of  the  locks  in  use  2  feet,  giving  the  same  increase  of  height  to  the  dams, 
lengthening  the  culverts,  the  construction  of  new  locks  of  enlarged  dimensions  and 
of  the  same  lift  alongside  the  locks  now  in  use,  and,  in  all  the  details,  to  make  the  im- 
provement first-class. 

I  made  changes  in  the  location  at  lock  No.  25,  the  outlet  lock  into  the  pond,"  created 
by  the  Indian  Rock  dam,  the  entrance  being  very  objectionable.    With  the  location 


14 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


now  proposed,  the  entrance  at  both  ends  of  the  locks  will  be  very  good.  At  Indian 
Rock,  the  estimate  embraces  an  amount  sufficient  to  change  and  improve  the  entrance 
to  the  guard-lock  at  that  point. 

The  estimate  contemplates  the  erection  of  a  towing-path  and  road  bridge  across  the 
James  Eiver  at  the  Blue  Ridge  ferry,  a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  Cushaw  dam, 
high  winds  and  water  frequently  making  the  crossing  dangerous  and  at  times  impracti- 
cable. The  erection  of  this  bridge  obviates  these  delays.  If  the  work  was  to  be  put 
under  contract,  I  would  advise  that  the  pond  be  entered  about  half  a  mile  farther 
from  the  dam  than  at  present,  and  that  the  crossing  be  made  the  same  distance  from 
the  dam.  The  canal  here  passes  from  the  north  to  the  south  side  of  the  river.  At 
lock  No.  6,  the  outlet  into  the  pond,  created  by  the  Coleman  Falls  dam,  another  change 
is  proposed,  viz. :  to  cross  Read  Creek  by  an  aqueduct  of  50  feet  span,  and  to  entei-  the 
pond  some  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  object  of  this  change  is  to 
avoid  the  deposit  of  sand  made  at  the  entrance  to  the  lock  by  the  creek,  the  site 
selected  for  the  new  lock  being  more  favorable  than  one  alongside  the  present  lock. 
At  present  frequent  delays  are  caused  to  navigation  and  much  expense  incurred  in 
removing  these  deposits  by  dredging. 

Admonished  by  the  freshet  of  September  last,  the  highest  which  has  occurred  within 
a  century,  and  from  an  inspection  of  the  injuries  received  at  several  of  the  dams,  I  am 
convinced  that  they  resulted  from  the  water-way  being  too  much  contracted.  1?he 
abutments  of  the  dams  are  connected  with  the  head  walls  of  the  guard-locks  by 
walls  of  rubble  masonry,  generally  25  feet  high  above  canal  bottom,  and  varying  from  40 
to  360  feet  in  length.  At  Big  island,  Coleman  Falls,  and  Judith  Creek  dams,  they 
were  respectively  256,  354,  256)^  feet  long,  and  the  freshet  swept  them  down  to  the 
level  of  the  dams.  I  have  estimated  for  lengthening  the  Big  Island  dam  150  feet, 
making  the  entire  length  577  feet ;  for  Coleman  Falls  dam,  an  increase  of  168  feet  is 
proposed,  making  the  entire  length  522  feet ;  for  Judith  Creek  dam,  an  increase  of  150 
feet,  making  the  entire  length  575  feet.  These  additions,  and  other  safeguards  esti- 
mated for,  will  render  those  dams  safe  against  such  freshets  as  that  which  induced 
these  alterations.  With  the  exception  of  Quarry  Falls  dam,  the  water-way  of  the 
dams  above  the  mouth  of  North  River  is  sufficient,  and  no  danger  is  to  be  apprehended. 
I  have  provided  for  lengthening  the  Quarry  Falls  dam  100  feet. 

By  the  second  division  the  passage  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  is  made.  The  length 
of  canal  through  the  mountains  is  7|  miles. 

From  the  mouth  of  North  River,  in  Rockbridge  County,  where  the  gap  in  the  moun- 
tains begins,  the  work  is  heavy  and  of  an  expensive  character,  as  is  also  generally  the 
case  from  this  point  to  Lynchburg.  The  valley  is  narrow,  and  the  river  hills  leave  but 
little  space  between  their  bases  and  the  river.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  division  is 
$2,092,008  51,  or  8^1,840  17  per  mile. 

The  first  division,  extending  from  the  city  of  Lynchburg  to  and  including  the  basin 
in  the  city  of  Richmond,  is  146  J  miles  long,  comprising  137f  miles  of  canal  and  8| 
miles  slack-water  navigation.  The  dimensions  of  the  first  division  are  generally  the 
same  as  those  of  the  second  division,  the  locks  being  of  the  same  size. 

The  lockage  from  the  basin  in  Richmond  to  the  city  of  Lynchburg  is  429  feet. 

The  principal  mechanical  structures  are  fifty-two  lift-locks,  four  guard-locks,  four 
principal  dams,  viz :  Waterworks  dam,  Lynchburg,  Joshua  Creek,  Tye  River,  and 
Maiden's  Adventure  dams;  nine  other  dams  cross  James  River,  or  to  islands  in  the 
river,  which  serve  as  feeders  to  the  canal  or  for  connections  with  the  south  side 
of  the  river  ;  eleven  aqueducts,  three  of  which  have  wooden  trunks,  the  remain- 
der being  of  cut  stone,  with  spans  varying  from  20  to  65  feet ;  one  hundred  and 
ninety-one  culverts,  with  spans  from  2  to  30  feet ;  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  farm 
and  road  bridges;  three  towing-path  bridges;  nine  waste-weirs.  Of  the  locks,  twenty- 
two  are  built  of  cut  stone,  the  remainder  of  rubble  masonry  faced  with  timber,  and  of 
the  class  known  as  composite  locks.  The  survey  of  this  division  was  principally  con- 
fined to  the  enlargement  of  the  trunk  of  the  canal,  construction  of  nev/  locks,  raising 
the  dams,  and  altering  such  other  mechanical  structures  as  may  be  made  available. 
The  estimate  embraces  the  construction  of  a  towing-path  bridge  across  James  River 
at  the  head  of  Joshua  Creek  pond,  550  feet  long.  It  provides  also  for  the  continuation 
of  the  thirty-third  level,  (entered  by  combined  locks  of  17  feet  10  inches  lift)  from 
pond  created  by  Tye  River  dam,  around  this  pond,  crossing  Tye  River  by  an  aqueduct 
of  three  spans  of  100  feet  each,  and  locking  into  the  thirty-second  level  about  1,000 
feet  below  the  present  guard-lock.  Instead  of  having  combined  locks,  I  divide  the  lift 
and  substitute  twO  locks,  having  lifts  respectively  of  9  feet  10  inches  and  8  feet,  with 
a  level  betv/een  them  of  near  1,000  feet  in  length.  The  inducements  to  make  this 
change  are  to  avoid  the  danger  and  detentions  to  navigation  caused  by  frequent  rises 
in  Tye  River,  which  enters  James  River  a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  guard-lock  and 
dam.  The  deposit  of  sand  made  by  this  stream  is  immense,  causes  frequent  detentions 
to  navigation,  and  entails  a  large  and  yearly  increasing  expense  for  dredging.  The 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KAKAWHA  CANAL. 


15 


dam  is  needed  as  a  feeder,  and  will  still  serve  the  local  trade  from  the  sonth  side  of  the 
river. 

The  time  at  my  command  for  field-work  being  insufficient  for  the  completion  of  the 
snrvey  of  this  division,  field  operations  were  suspended  at  the  sixty-ninth  mile  west  of 
Richmond ;  hence  this  estimate  is  an  approximation.  The  cost  of  the  enlarged  locks  is 
accurately  given,  and  the  quantity  of  other  mechanical  work  is  kno^WTi,  and  ean  be 
closely  estimated.  Average  sections  are  taken  and  their  cost  applied  to  similar  sec- 
tions. This  and  all  other  preliminary  estimates  can  but  approximate  the  actual  cost 
of  construction,  yet  I  feel  confident  that  this  will  be  found  as  nearly  correct  as  such 
estimates  can  be  made.  The  cost  of  this  division  is  taken  to  be  84,811,326,  or  $32,841  81 
per  mile. 

An  estimate  has  been  made  for  a  new  connection  between  the  first  division  and  tide- 
water, one  mile  in  length,  amounting  to  $334,937.  The  lockage  between  the  basin  and 
dock  is  69  feet. 

Tide-water  is  reached  by  a  ship-lock  180  feet  long  between  the  gates,  35  wide  in  the 
chamber,  having  a  lift  of  15  feet  and  16  feet  water  on  the  miter  sills.  The  dock  is 
4,900  feet  long,  and  varies  in  width  from  100  to  200  feet.  From  the  ship-lock  to  Seven- 
teenth street,  4,100  feet,  the  depth  of  water  is  from  11  to  15  feet.  Above  Seventeenth 
fitreet  the  depth  is  from  5  to  8  feet.  It  is  proposed  to  enlarge  this  dock,  and  construct 
a  new  ship-lock  of  such  .dimensions  as  will  admit  the  largest  steamers  and  sail  vessels 
into  the  dock  that  can  navigate  the  James  River,  which  is  now  being  improved  under 
liberal  appropriations  made  by  Congress  and  the  city  of  Richmond.  The  estimate  for 
the  enlargement  of  the  dock  and  new  ship-lock  is  31,300,000. 

Estimates  in  detail  will  be  made  and  submitted,  as  soon  as  they  can  be  prepared,  giv- 
ing by  sections  the  quantities  and  classification  of  excavations  and  embankments, 
quantities  of  masonry  and  prices  applied,  and  generally  a  minute  description  of  the 
whole  line.  Such  plans  and  maps  as  will  elucidate  them  will  be  submitted  with  the 
detailed  estimates.  It  being  desirable  that  at  least  a  partial  report  of  the  surveys 
committed  to  my  charge  should  be  in  your  hands  by  the  1st  of  January,  I  have  been 
induced  to  devote  the  time  spent  in  estimates  to  the  most  prominent  and  expensive 
points  and  class  of  works,  and  to  make  as  close  approximations  as  time  allowed  to  the 
cost  of  less  important  and  less  expensive  portions. 

The  notes  taken  in  the  field  were  so  extended  as  to  enable  me  to  prepare  estimates 
for  a  canal  with  a  water  surface  of  85  and  100  feet  in  width,  if  you  should  desire  such 
estimates.  It  will  require  about  one  month  to  complete  the  field-work  on  the  first 
division  and  make  the  surveys  for  the  new  tide-water  connection. 

The  total  cost  of  the  portion  of  the  line  considered  in  my  estimates,  262.14  mOes  in 
length,  with  a  total  lockage  of  1,624|  feet,  is  as  follows : 

Fourth  division   $2,206,795  45 

Third  division  0...     4,036,577  11 

Second  division   2,092,008  51 

First  division  .'   4,811,326  00 

Tide-water  connection   334,937  00 

Dock  and  ship-lock   1,300,000  00 


14,781,644  07 


Exclusive  of  the  tide-water  connection  and  enlargement  of  dock  and  new  ship-lock, 
the  cost  is  $13,146,707  07,  or  an  average  of  $50,408  45  per  mile.  Including  these,  the 
total  estimate  is  $14,781,644  07,  or  an  average  of  $56,418  10  per  mile. 

No  physical  difficulties  will  be  encountered  in  the  construction  and  enlargement  of 
the  portion  of  the  line  herein  reported  on  tbat  have  not  been  overcome  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  first  and  second  divisions  of  the  canal  including  the  old  Blue  Ridge  ca- 
nal and  its  enlargement  to  the  dimensions  of  the  canal  now  in  use.  Far  greater  diffi- 
culties have  been  repeatedly  met  and  surmounted  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  In- 
creasing the  water  surface  to  70  feet  and  building  locks  120  feet  by  20  feet,  involves 
simply  so  many  cubic  yards  of  rock  and  earth  excavation,  and  so  many  cubic  yards  of 
masonry. 

Many  miles  of  canal  in  this  country  have  cost  as  much  per  mile,  with  dimensions 
less  than  here  proposed ;  some  have  cost  more,  and  in  Europe  the  cost  has  largely  ex- 
ceeded the  amount  estimated  in  this  . report  for  the  extension  and  the  contemplated  en- 
largement of  first  and  second  divisions. 

The  capacity  of  a  canal  of  the  dimensions  assumed  in  this  report  is  well  known,  and 
has  been  clearly  stated  in  tables,  which  show  the  relative  capacity  and  length  of  this 
and  other  lines  between  the  East  and  West,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  transportation  by  each. 
This  information  will  be  found  in  a  report  on  "the  central  water-line  from  the  Ohio 
River  to  the  Virginia  capes,"  prepared  by  the  officers  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Company,  and  other  gentlemen  interested  in  the  proposed  improvement. 

The  question  of  tonnage  that  would  seek  this  route  to  tide-water  is  speculative,  and 


16 


JAMES  RIVER  Am  KAKAWHA  CAIS^AL. 


its  consideration  does  not  fall  within  the  range  of  my  present  duties.  The  practica- 
bility of  the  construction  along  this  route  of  an  enlarged  canal  within  reasonable 
bounds  as  to  cost  having  been  shown  and  its  utility  too  clearly  established  to  require 
discussion  at  this  late  date,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  importance  of  its  speedy 
execution. 

ResDectfullv  submitted, 

W.  G.  TURPIN, 

Civil  Engineer. 

Colonel  Wm.  P.  Craighill, 

United  States  Engineer  Corps,  in  charge  of  survey  in  Virginia,  &c. 

Baltimore,  Maryland,  January  21,  1871. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  preliminary  report,  on  the  results  of 
the  examinations  and  surveys  for  the  extension  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Ca- 
nal, from  the  eastern  base  of  the  Alleghanies,  together  with  an  approximate  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  the  improvement. 

The  necessity  imposed  upon  me  by  you  to  make  report  early  in  the  present  year,  to 
enable  Congress  to  take  action  upon  the  matter,  has  not  allowed  time  for  much^careful 
preparation  or  detailed  study ;  but  no  point  of  importance  has  been  overlooked,  and 
the  estimate  is  believed  to  be  sufficient  to  cover  the  cost.  The  work  was  placed  by 
you  in  my  hands,  about  the  middle  of  August  last,  with  instructions  to  determine 
"the  best  route  for  the  canal  itself,  and  the  means  of  its  ultimate  connection  with  the 
Ohio  River,  so  as  to  open  a  great  central  line  of  water  communication  for  the  West  and 
I^orthwest  with  the  East."  The  organization  of  a  corps  of  assistants  was  immediately 
commenced,  and  by  the  24th  of  August  they  were  in  the  field.  The  length  of  line  cov- 
ered by  these  instructions  was  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles.  The  amount  appro- 
priated to  it  being  hardly  sufficient  to  organize  one  party,  it  was  evident  that  but  a 
small  portion  of  it  could  be  actually  surveyed.  The  late  period  of  the  season,  as  well  as 
the  smallness  of  the  appropriation,  rendered  it  necessary  to  make  use  of  all  available 
information  from  reliable  sources,  and  to  limit  our  own  operations  in  the  field  to  such 
points  as  had  not  been  satisfactorily  determined  before. 

With  a  view,  therefore,  first  to  decide  as  to  the  best  crossing  of  the  main  Alleghany 
Mountains,  the  survey  was  commenced  at  the  mouth  of  Fork  Run  on  Dunlap's  Creek,  at 
the  termination  of  the  definitive  location  heretofore  made  for  its  works  by  the  .James 
River  and  Kanawha  Company,  and  a  line  was  thence  traced  to  the  Greenbrier  River^ 
near  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek. 

These  mountain  ^surveys  occupied  more  than  a  month,  and  it  was  not  until  the  6th  of 
October  that  we  vv'ere  able  to  begin  the  examination  and  survey  of  the  Greenbrier.  This 
stream  presented  no  difficulties  of  a  formidable  nature,  while  those  at  Nev/  River  had 
been  represented  a^' appalling  "  and  "insurmountable." 

Leaving,  therefol^  my  assistants  to  continue  the  survey  of  the  former  stream,  I  made 
a  personal  reconnoisance  of  ISTew  River,,  as  far  as  Bowyer's  Ferry,  resulting  in 
the  abandonment  of  the  Greenbrier  survey,  and  the  transfer  of  the  party  to  New 
River. 

A  fresh  line  v/as  commenced  just  below  Stretcher's  Neck,  (the  level  heights  being 
kindly  furnished  by  the  engineers  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad,)  and  prose- 
cuted until  the  20th  of  November,  when  the  low  state  of  the  funds  rendered  it  neces- 
sary to  disband  the  party  at  a.  point  some  three  miles  below  Bowyer's  Ferry.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  line  was  gone  over  by  myself,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha 
River. 

OBJECT  OF  THE  EXTENSION. 

The  enlargement  and  extension  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  which  is 
known  to  our  commercial  conventions,  and  others,  by  the  title  of  the  Virginia  water 
line,  is  designed  to  connect  the  Ohio  with  the  Atlantic  through  the  valleys  of  the  Ka- 
nawha and  the  James,  and  their  tributaries,  and  to  form  an  interior  water  line  for  the 
transportation,  at  low  rates,  of  heavy  freights  from  ail  parts  of  the  West  to  the  Atlantic, 
combining  river,  canal,  and  slack-water  navigation.  The  project  looks  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  present  Ja.mes  River  Canal,  already  completed  to  Buchanan,  191  miles 
from  Richmond,  its  continuation  to  and  across  the  Alleghany  summit  to  the  Greenbrier 
River,  and  by  the  improvement  of  that  and  New  River  to  the  Ohio. 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Richmond,  a  distance  of  100  miles,  the  James  River  is  navi- 
gable for  vessels  of  one  thousand  tons.  Thence  to  the  Greenbrier  River,  the  length  of 
the  proposed  canal  is  274.1  miles.  The  total  length  of  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  to 
the  foot  of  Lyken's  Shoals,  on  the  Kanawha,  124.2,  and  thence  to  the  Ohio,  85,1  miles. 
Making  the  total  distance  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Point  Pleasant,  on  the  Ohio  River j 
609.7  miles. 

SCALE. 

The  scale  of  the  enlargement  was  not  specified  by  the  lav/  making  the  appropriation, 
or  in  the  formal  instructions  communicated  to  me.    The  James  River  Company,  by  its 


JAMES  EIVER  Ai!s~D  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


17 


chief  engineer,  Mr.  Lorraine,  recommends  a  prism  nearly  as  large  as  the  Erie  Canal, 
of  ISTew  York,  with  locks  of  somewhat  greater  capacity.  These  dimensions  hare  been 
adopted  or  assumed  by  the  States  of  Iowa,  Virginia,  andTTest  Tirginia,  in  their  memo- 
rials to  Congress  on  the  subject,  and  by  the  National  Board  of  Trade  of  1869,  in  its  reso- 
lutions and  the  reports  of  its  committees.  The  commercial  convention  assembled  in 
Cincinnati,  in  October,  1870,  recommended  the  construction  of  the  work  on  a  scale  suf- 
ficient to  pass  boats  of  five  hundred  tons  burden.  The  following  estimates  have  been 
based  on  dimensions  nearly  as  proposed  by  Mr.  Lorraine,  to  wit,  width  of  prism  at 
water  surface  70  feet,  at  bottom  56  feet,  and  7  feet  depth,  with  slope  walls  on  both  sides. 
The  locks  to  be  120  feet  long  between  the  gates,  and  20  feet  wide  at  the  lower  water 
line.  These  proportions  are  taken,  chiefly,  because  they  are  the  basis  of  all  that  has 
been  written  upon  the  subject,  and  particularly  of  the  estimate  for  enlargement  from 
Richmond  to  Fork  Run. 

Cheapness  of  transportation  is  the  great  object  to  be  attained  by  the  work  under  con- 
sideration, and  this  varies  very  nearly  with  the  capacity  of  the  boats  used.  A  smaller 
canal  could  be  built  for  less  money,  but  the  cost  of  transportation  on  it,  and  of  manage- 
ment, would,  per  ton,  be  higher,  I  consider  the  dimensions  adopted  as  the  least  that 
will  properly  carry  out  the  object  in  view. 

On  the  other  hand,  any  considerable  enlargement  of  scale  will  increase  the  cost  in  a 
rapidly  ascending  ratio,  the  water  supply  would  become  more  uncertain  or  expensive, 
and  in  view  of  the  capability  for  enlargement  of  the  locks  proposed,  any  material  change 
seems  to  me  undesirable.  Were  the  question  entirely  new,  however,  I  would  advise  a 
somewhat  wder  lock  on  the  canal  as  tending  t-o  cheapen  transportation  and  offering  bet- 
ter facilities  for  future  enlargement. 

PREVIOUS  BUEVETS. 

In  1817~'19,  surveys  were  m.ade  of  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  by  Messrs.  Moore  and 
Briggs  with  a  view  to  their  improvement  by  sluices  for  batteaux  drawing  from  to  2 
teet  of  water  only.  Their  report  is  valuable  for  the  accurate  description  of  the  rivers, 
their  fall,  &c. 

From  Dunlap's  Creek  to  the  Greenbrier  River  full  examinations  and  surveys  for  a 
canal  were  made  in  1826-  28  by  Captain  McNeil,  United  States  Army,  every  route  being 
examined  which  gave  any  promise,  resulting  in  a  location  by  v>-ay  of  Fork  Run  and  How- 
ard's Creek,  which  was  adopted  by  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company.  Subse- 
quent surveys  by  the  engineers  of  the  company  have  confirmed  the  superiority  of  this 
location. 

In  1S38  Ed.  H.  Gill  made  a  minute  and  careful  survey  and  report  on  the  improve- 
ment of  the  ivanaw^ha  River,  under  the  direction  of  Charles  Ellet,  jr.,  then  the  chief 
eugineer,  recommending  a  system  of  locks  from  pool  to  pool  combined  with  wing  dams, 
tor  the  purpose  of  obtaming  a  depth  of  3^  feet  at  low  water  stages. § 

Mr.  Gill  made  in  1841  an  examination  of  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  and  recom- 
mended a  plan  for  their  improvement.  He  proposed  for  the  former  stream  a  mixed 
system  of  canal  and  slack-vvater ;  and  for  New  River,  of  locks  and  dams  suitable  for 
steamboat  navigation.  His  plans  are  marked  by  good  judgment  and^skill,  although 
in  some  cases  their  boldness  is  rather  to  be  admired  than  imitated.  His  report  is  ap- 
proved in  general  terms  by  Benjamin  Wright  and  Charles  Ellet,  and  with  some  reserva- 
tions by  Cnarles  B.  Fisk,  all  eminent  civil  engineers. 

Another  survey  and  estimate  for  improving  the  Kanawha  were  made  under  the  di 
rection  of  Mr.  Fisk,  in  1855,  by  John  A.  Byers,  on  the  plan  of  sluice  dams  at  short 
intervals  on  the  ripples  with  a  view  to  obtain  five  feet  depth  of  water. 

A  tiiird  project  was  submitted  to  the  directors  of  the  Kanawha  improvement  in  1860, 
by  Charles  Eliet,  jr.,  their  engineer  at  that  time,  who  proposed,  after  clearing  out  the 
sluices  and  confining  the  w-ater  to  the  channels,  to  supply  from  reservoirs  the  quantity 
needed  for  purposes  of  navigation  beyond  the  natural  flow  of  the  stream. 

LOCATIOX  ACROSS  THE  ALLEGHA^'Y  SUMMIT. 

The  first  point  in  my  instructions  was  to  determine  the  best  route  for  the  canal  from 
the  termination  of  the  definitive  location  already  made.  As  before  stated,  the  line 
selected  by  Captain  McNeil,  in  1828,  had  been  adopted  as  the  best  that  cotild  be  found. 
Other  routes  have  been  brought  forward  by  local  advocates  ;  none  more  prominently 
than  that  by  way  of  Craig's  Creek,  connecting  it  with  Sinking  or  Poverty  Creeks, 
(more  southern  branches  of  New  River.)  This  line  was  examined  by  Captain  McNeil, 
and  more  recently  by  other  engineers,  all  of  whom  have  declared  it  to  possess  no  claims 
to  attention.  Under  the  circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the  little  time  at  my  disposal, 
i  have  made  no  further  investigation  into  the  merits  of  this  route. 

While  the  line  adopted  by  Captain  McNeil  has  not  been  improved  as  to  its  general  loca- 
tion, an  important  modification  of  it  has  been  recommended  and  urged  by  Mr.  Edward 
Lorraine,  chief  engineer  of  the  James  River  Company.  McNeil's  line  ascended  the  valley 
of  Fork  Run  to  an  elevation  of  1,916  feet  above  tide,  and  there  pierced  the  ridge  with 

s  * 


18 


JA]VIES  EIVES  AKD  KANAWZA  CANAL. 


a  tunnel  of  2f  miles  in  length,  whence  it  descended  the  valley  of  Howard's  Creek  to  the 
Greenbrier.  Mr.  Lorraine  proposes  "to  establish  the  summit  at  a  level  of  1,700  feet 
above  tide,  or  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  Greenbrier  River,  at  the  mouth  of  How- 
ard's Creek,  and  pass  through  the  Alleghany  Mountains  by  a  tunnel  about  nine  miles 
long."  This,  then,  was  the  real  question  as  to  the  route  across  the  Alleghany  summit. 
The  line  now  recommended  for  the  canal,  from  the  mouth  of  Fork  Run,  ascends  the 
valley  of  that  stream  to  an  elevation  of  1,700  feet  above  tide,  then  passes  through  the 
Alleghany  Mountain  by  a  tunnel  7.8  miles  in  length,  crossiog  also  nnder  the  summits 
of  Tuckahoe  and  Kates  Mountain,  and,  emerging  in  the  valley  of  Howard's  Creek, 
follows  it  to  the  Greenbrier  River.  The  whole  distance  is  12.6  miles.  The  ascent  on 
the  eastern  slope  is  72  feet,  overcome  by  six  locks  of  12  feet  lift,  and  the  descent  west- 
erly from  the  summit  level,  which  is  10.55  miles  in  length,  is  by  three  locks  of  10  feet 
lift,  to  the  river. 

The  supply  of  water  will  be  taken  from  the  Greenbrier  River,  but  as  this  does  not  at 
all  times  furnish  a  suiScient  quantity,  recourse  must  be  had  to  reservoirs  to  meet  the 
deficiency.  These  may  be  constructed  on  the  river  itself,  but  the  very  complete  sur- 
veys made  by  Mr.  Lorraine  for  a  reservoir  on  Anthony's  Creek,  one  of  its  tributaries, 
show  that  site  to  be  a  desirable  one,  both  as  to  cost  and  sufficiency. 

The  alternate  route  for  the  passage  of  the  main  divide  continues  up  Fork  Run  to  an 
elevation  216  feet  above  the  first  described  line;  the  tunnel  is  2|  miles  long,  and  the 
whole  number  of  locks,  ascending  and  descending,  is  forty-six.  The  tunnel  on  this 
route  can  be  worked  with  any  desired  number  of  shafts,  and  lying  principally  in.  the 
slate  and  shaly  sandstones,  the  estimate  has  been  made  to  cover  the  cost  of  arching  the 
whole  tunnel. 

The  supply  of  water  will,  in  this  case  also,  be  obtained  from  a  reservoir  to  be  con- 
structed on  Anthony's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Greenbrier,  whence  it  will  pass  through 
a  tunnel  2|  miles  long,  and  a  feeder  canal  of  6.}  miles  to  the  summit  level. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  low  level  is  the  long  tunnel,  longer  even  than  that 
of  Mount  Cenis,  just  now  reaching  completion  ;  differing  from  that  work,  however,  in 
one  important  particular,  that  while  the  Mount  Cenis  tunnel  was  excavated  exclusively 
from  the  two  ends,  the  one  now  in  consideration  can  be  worked  from  six  shafts  as  well 
as  from  the  ends,  forming  fourteen  faces  upon  which  simultaneous  progress  can  be 
made. 

The  section  recommended  and  adopted  for  the  estimate  is  52  feet  wide  and  34^  feet 
high,  the  wacer-v/ay  being  7  by  46  feet,  with  a  tow-path  of  6  feet,  and  semi-circular 
roof.  I  have  no  doubt  that  stream,  in  some  form,  will  be  used  as  the  motive  power  in 
this  tunnel,  but  have  thought  it  necessary  to  provide  a  narrow  tow-path,  rather  as 
an  assistance  in  case  of  accident,  than  as  an  auxiliary  to  navigation.  This  narrow 
tow-path  is  extended  through  the  rock  cuttings  of  the  approaches  to  the  tunnel,  in 
which  also  the  wi#th  at  water  surface  is  somewhat  reduced,  while  retaining  an  equal 
section. 

The  extreme  length  of  tunnel  is  40,380  feet,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing  the 
depth  of  shafts,  has  been  located  upon  a  curve  of  nearly  30  miles  radius,  although  in 
construction  the  tunnel  would  be  made  straight,  from  shaft  to  shaft. 

The  shafts  vary  in  deptii  from  333  to  693  feet,  and  the  greatest  distance  between  any 
two  of  them  is  7,500  feet. 

The  cost  of  the  tunnel  varies  with  its  width.  Being  of  great  length,  it  must  afford 
room  for  the  passage  of  loaded  boats  moving  in  opposite  directions,  and  for  the  same 
reason  the  resistance  to  traction,  which  are  directly  dependent  on  the  width  of  v/ater- 
way,  must  not  be  too  largely  increased. 

The  dimensions  given  allow  C  feet  for  guard-timbers  and  for  space  between  passing 
boats,  and  the  resistances  will  be  about  25  per  cent,  greater  than  on  the  70-foot  canal. 

The  rock  through  which  the  excavation  will  be  made  is  slate  and  sandstone  of  vari- 
able quality,  from  a  sandstone  shale  to  the  most  solid  character  of  rocks.  Lying  be- 
iov\^  the  sum.-iiits,  crossed  at  a  depth  of  1,000  to  1,300  feet,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  rock  will  be  sufficiently  firm  and  solid  to  stand  without  a 
lining  arch.  I  have,  however,  included  in  the  estimate  the  cost  of  arching  one-half  of 
the  whole  length  of  the  tunnel.    The  cost,  as  estimated,  of  this  line,  from  the  mouth  of 

Fork  Run  to  the  Greenbrier,  is   =   $15,636,757 

And  by  the  high-level  route  ,    7,959,564 

Difference  against  the  low  level   7,677,193 


Before  comparing  these  two  routes  as  to  the  relative  cost  of  transportation  over  them, 
we  must  determine  as  the  elements  of  computation  the  probable  tonnage,  and  the  cost 
of  transportation  per  ton  per  mile. 

On  the  Erie  Canal  198  boats  have  actually  been  passed  through  a  single  lock  in  one 
day  ;  we  may  then  safely  assume  a  capacity  for  180  boats.    The  tonnage  of  tho  boats 


JAMES  RIVEil  AI^D  KAKAWHA  CANAL. 


19 


which  will  be  used  will  be  about  280  tons,  but  as  the  freight  goirig  West  will  not  be 
more  than  one-fourth  of  that  from  the  West,  we  will  average  them  at  180  tons,  which 
will  show  a  trade  of  9,720,000  tons  per  annum  or  for  a  season  of  300  days. 

The  actual  excess  in  length  of  the  high  level  route  is  about  3^  miles ;  the  whole 
amount  of  lockage  is  432  feet.  This  being  equated  by  the  rule  deduced  from  observa- 
tions on  the  Erie,  is  equal  to  37  miles  of  level  canal,  making  the  equivalent  difference 
in  length  equal  to  40^  miles  of  level  canal. 

The  cost  of  transportation  on  canals  of  these  dimensions  is  stated  by  McAlpine,  in  his 
report  of  1854,  to  be  four  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  The  officers  of  the  Erie  have  found  it 
to  vary  from  2,16  to  2.25  mills  per  ton  per  mile  up  to  1866,  and  in  1888  to  have  reached 
4.6  mills.    I  make  the  cost  on  the  present  work,  reduced  to  a  level,  2.3  mills. 


Appyling  then  this  price,  we  have  9,720,000  tons  by  40-^  miles  by  2,3 
mills   8905,418 


Which,  at  7  per  cent,,  is  the  interest  on   §12,^34,542 

We  have  seen  the  excess  of  cost  of  the  lov>^  level  over  the  higher  route 
to  be   7,677,193 

But  this  result  shows  that  the  actual  saving  in  cost  of  transportation 
by  the  lower  line  represents  a  capital  of   5,257,349 


On  the  iiat  ground  adjacent  to  the  river  it  is  proposed  to  construct  a  basin,  in  which 
cargoes  can  be  transferred  from  the  large  barges  navigating  the  rivers  to  those  proper 
for  use  in  the  canal. 

WATER  SUPPLY. 

We  have  assumed  a  trade  of  180  boats  per  day.  but  it  will  be  prudent  to  provide  a 
supply  oi'  water  for  200.  Allowing  them  one  and  one-half  locks  full  of  water  to  each 
boat  passing  the  summit  level,  we  v/ill  require  300  locks  full  of  water  per  day  for 
a  maximum  trade.  The  greatest  lift  between  Greenbrier  and  Covington,  the  portion 
of  the  line  to  be  supplied  from  the  summit  level,  is  14  feet,  and  the  locks  being  120  feet 


by  20,  we  have  300  locks  by  120  by  20  by  14,  equal  to  cubic  feet  per  day-  10,080,000 
Evaporation  on  21.9  miles  (the  tunnel  being  excluded,)  i  inch  per  mile 

per  day,  cubic  feet   225,264 

Filtration,  cubic  feet   5,240,400 

Waste  at  structures,  cubic  feet   43,200 

Leakage  at  lock  gates   1,728,000 


Total,  cubic  feet.   17,316,864 

The  minimum  flow  of  the  Greenbrier,  as  gauged  by  Captain  McNeil, 
v/as  97  feet  per  second,  or  per  day   8,380,800 


Leaving  to  be  supplied  from  other  sources   8,936,064 

Suppose  the  flow  of  the  Greenbrier  to  continue  at  its  minimum  for  an 
average  period  of  120  days,  the  total  quantity  to  be  furnished  would 

be,  cubic  feet   1,072,327.680 


The  reservoir  surveyed  by  Mr.  Lorraine  will  contain  4,806,000,000  cubic 
feet,  and  the  observed  discharge  of  the  stream,  (where  it  has  been 

gauged,)  for  a  year  of  much  less  than  the  average  rain-fall,  is ..... .  5,484,229,000 

Diminish  this  by  the  evaporation  of  one-fourth  of  an  inch  per  day  for 

one  year,  from  the  surface  of  the  reservoir   899,405,100 


And  we  have  available  for  the  canal   4,584,823,900 

Or  a  surplus  of   3, 5j  2,496,220 


As  fears  have  been  expressed  by  some  persons  not  familiar  with  the  subject,  that  a 
reservoir  supplied  chiefly  from  rain-fall  might  iail  to  furnish  the  anticipated  supply,  it 
is  well  to  observe  that  the  valley  of  the  Greenbrier  River  is  extremely  favorable  for  the 
construction  of  reservoirs,  with  which  it  miglit  be  filled  througliciit  its  length  of  60 
miles,  in  which  any  desired  am.ount  of  water  from  the  spring  and  winter  floods  might 
be  stored  up  for  use  in  times  of  drought. 

At  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek  the  canal,  having  passed  the  Alleghany  summit,  is 
terminated.  The  means  of  its  ultimate  connection  \sith  the  Ohio  is  next  to  be  con- 
sidered. The  valley  of  the  Greenbrier  River  is  narrow,  limited  on  one  or  both  sides  by 
steep  bluff's  or  cliffs.  The  flat  land  is  small  in  quantity,  and  in  no  place  continuous 
for  any  considerable  distance.  The  improvement  recommended  by  Mr.  Gill,  partly 
canal  and  partly  slack-water,  would  be  the  more  economical  for  a  work  of  the  dimen- 
sions proposed  by  him,  but  the  larger  canal  now  under  consideration  would  not  find 
room  in  many  places  along  the  river  bluffs,  without  too  serious  a  reduction  of  the 
water-way  of  the  river  itself.    I  therefore  recommend  a  continuous  slack-water,  (broken 


20 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


at  two  points  only  by  short  sections  of  canal,)  which  would  be  extended  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river  by  nineteen  dams,  of  heights  varying  from  10  to  35  feet.  At  Anderson's, 
and  again  a  short  distance  below  the  Fall.':,  of  Greenbrier,  short  canals  of  large  dimen- 
sions are  introduced  to  avoid  very  expensive  locations  for  dams,  which  would  other- 
wise be  required.  The  length  of  the  river  is  49.086  miles,  and  the  total  fall  316  feet. 
New  River  is,  particularly  in  its  lower  portions,  of  a  diiierent  character,  the  banks 
being  composed  almost  entirely  of  boulders,  among  or  over  which  the  construction  of 
a  canal  presents  formidable  diiSculties.  These,  however,  are  not  in  tlie  way  of  a  slack- 
water  improvement,  as  is  now  recommended.  The  river  and  its  valley  are  remarkably 
favorable  for  a  work  of  this  character,  except  in  one  single  particular,  and  that  is  the 
difficulty  (on  a  hurried  reconnoissance)  of  determining  rock  sites  for  dams.  The  river  is 
in  many  places  filled  with  boulders  of  every  size,  sometimes  immensely  large,  and  it  is 
not  possible  generally  to  estimate  thejr  depth.  At  such  -oints  the  cost  of  foundations 
cannot  be  determined  in  advance.  I  have,  therefore,  deemed  it  necessary  to  locate 
dams  at  those  places  only  v/here  the  ledge  rock  can  be  discovered.  In  consequence, 
some  of  them  are  higher  than  I  could  have  wished,  and  the  estimate  proportionately 
greater.  It  is  probable  that  better  sites  will  be  found  by  a  more  detailed  survey,  and 
that  the  cost  will  thereby  be  reduced.  Indeed,  I  expect  a  thorough  survey  greatly  to 
diminish  the  estimate.  It  was  not  possible  in  the  time  and  with  the  force  at  my  dis- 
posal to  undertake  an  examination  in  detail  of  tlie  pools  and  shoals,  with  a  view  to 
make  a  final  location.  A  height  was  therefore  taken  for  each  dam  sufficient  to  raise 
the  water  seven  feet  at  the  foot  of  the  one  next  above,  without  regard  to  its  present 
depth. 

The  length  of  New  River,  from  the  mouth  of  Greenbrier,  is  67.433  miles  ;  the  fall  in 
this  distance,  756  feet. 

The  upper  portion  of  the  Kanawha,  from  the  mouth  of  Gauley  River  to  the  foot  of 
Lyken's  Shoals,  requires  the  same  kind  of  improvement  as  the  Greenbrier  and  Ne\v 
Rivers ;  the  fall  being  too  great  for  any  open  navigation,  its  cost  is  included  with  those 
rivers. 

The  whole  number  of  dams  required  is  fifty-five,  varying  from  12  to  41  feet  in  height, 
and  in  length  from  200  to  600  feet.  They  are  to  be  constructed  of  heavy  rubble  masonry 
laid  in  hydraulic  cement,  and  covered  on  top  with  timber  and  plank. 

DIMENSIONS  AND  PLAN  OF  SLACK-WATER. 

The  locks  are  designed  to  be  200  feet  in  length  between  the  gates,  and  40  feet  in  width 
at  the  lower  water-line,  with  7  feet  depth  of  water.  These  dimensions  will  admit  a 
b8>rge  of  700  tons,  or  two  canal  boats  for  the  enlarged  canal.  The  locks  as  well  as  the 
dams  are  to  be  constructed  of  heavy  masonry,  with  guard  walls  from  10  to  20  feet  above 
the  coping  of  the  dams ;  the  head  walls  and  upper  gates  of  the  locks  being  carried  up 
to  the  same  height  as  a  protection  during  floods. 

On  the  Greenbrier  the  maximum  freshet  rise  is  about  20  feet.  It  varies  on  diiferent 
portions  of  New  River,  rarely  exceeding  8  feet  at  Richman's  falls  ;  30  to  35  feet  from 
Stretcher's  Neck  to  Bowyer's,  or  perhaps  to  Miller's  ferry ;  and  for  a  few  miles  below 
the  latter  point  from  40  to  50  feet.  At  the  "  Blue  Hole,"  v/here  the  river,  having  fallen 
62  feet  among  precipitous  cliffs  in  the  preceding  two  miles,  turns  at  a  right  angle,  and 
meets  a  lighter  grade,  the  engineers  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad  have  found 
unmistakable  signs  of  high  water  69  feet  above  the  ordinary  surface.  At  these  points 
the  locks  will  be,  of  course,  submerged,  but  their  construction  will  be  such  as  to  pre- 
serve them  from  injury. 

The  lock  gates  will  be  made  of  iron  frames,  and  covered  with  plank  and  furnished 
with  suitable  gearing  for  manoeuvering  them.  By  reason  of  the  necessary  height  of 
the  upper  gates,  they  will  rest  on  breast  walls,  and  the  influx  valves  will  be  placed  in 
culverts  communicating  directly  with  the  pool.  The  efflux  valves  will  be  placed  in  the 
lower  gates. 

Cubic  feei. 

The  large  locks  on  the  slack-water  will  transmit  the  daily  tonnage 
estimated  for  the  canal  in  120  lockages,  requiring. for  a  maximum  lift 
of  15.5  feet,  (on  the  Greenbrier,)  with  25  per  ceni.  added  for  waste, 
120  by  200  by  40  by  15.5  by  1.25   18,600,000 

Which  being  supposed  necessary  for  120  days,  the  required  supply 
will  be   2,232,000,000 

But  Anthony's  Creek  reservoir  will  furnish  beyond  the  quantity  needed 
for  the  canal   3,512,496,220 

Showing  a  surplus  to  meet  contingencies  of   1,280,496,220 

During  the  last  summer  and  early  fall  the  Greenbrier  was  very  low ;  said  to  be  lower, 
indeed,  than  ever  before  observed  by  persons  living  at  Greenbrier  Bridge,  but  was 
swollen  by  rains  before  an  opportunity  ofiered  to  gauge  it.    I  rely,  therefore,  for  the 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


21 


loT7-water  flow  at  the  bridge  upon  Captain  McNeil,  who  found  it,  as  stated  above, 
97  feet  per  second  at  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek,  just  below  Greenbrier  Bridge,  A 
gauge  made  by  myself,  some  16  miles  lower  down,  gave  1,000  feet  per  second.  The 
river  had  been  much  higher,  but  had  fallen  to  within  8  to  10  inches  of  its  lowest  period 
at  the  point  where  the  gauge  was  made,  and  was  very  slowly  failing.  Any  calculation 
of  the  relative  discharge  at  its  lov/est  stage,  based  only  upon  the  relative  section,  and 
perimeter,  must,  in  my  judgment,  be  speculative  when  applied  to  a  river  formed  like 
the  Greenbrier,  of  alternate  pools  and  rapids.  The  application  of  the  formula  gives,  as 
the  low-water  discharge  at  the  point,  603  feet  per  second,  which  must  be  far  in  excess 
of  the  truth.  Kot  many  streams  empty  into  the  river  between  Howard's  Creek  and 
this  point,  but  I  am  of  opinion  that  considerable  quantities  of  water  are  furnished  from 
the  limestone  beds,  which  are  here  -underlaid  at  a  slight  depth  by  the  sandstone. 

The  discharge  of  New  Ri\  r,  when  said  to  be  at  a  low  stage,  though  not  its  lowest, 
was  found  to  be  2,000  feet  per  second.  Besides  the  Gauley,  several  streams  of  consider- 
able importance  empty  into  the  New  River  below  the  place  where  the  gauge  was  made, 
yet  the  ordinary  low  v/ater  of  the  Kanawha,  which  unites  the  discharge  of  New  River 
with  that  of  Gauley,  is  but  1.300  feet  per  second,  and  has  been  as  low  as  1,100  feet  at 
Buffalo  Shoals,  35  miles  below  Charleston,  If,  therefore,  the  water  of  New  River  sinks, 
as  has  been  supposed,  it  does  not  come  out  at  the  Salines  or  any  other  point  of  the  upper 
Kanawha,  but  the  fact  is,  as  before  stated,  that  the  minimum  flow  of  a  stream  of  these 
varying  characteristics  cannot  be  correctly  deduced  from  observations  made  at  any 
other  stjige. 

From  Lyken's  Shoals  to  the  Ohio,  at  Point  Pleasant,  the  distance  is  85.1  miles,  and  the 
average  fail  about  .873  foot  per  mile,  and  as  with  this  fall  an  open  navigation  is  practica- 
ble, it  is  also  highly  desirable. 

Among  the  plans  proposed,  that  of  sluice  dams,  by  Mr,  Fisk,  is  the  most  simple  of 
f^pplication  and  certain  in  its  results.  His  theory  is  to  grade  the  river  by  means  of 
dams  at  the  shoals,  to  be  spaced  about  one-quarter  of  a  mile,  containing  sluices  of  uni- 
form dimensions,  (I  would  fix  thern  at  100  by  7  feet,)  and  with  but  6  inches  fall  at  each 
dam,  thus  lengthening  the  steep  grade  of  tlie  shoal,  and  lightening  it  by  extending  the 
fall  over  more  distance.  The  resistance  to  a  tow  of  loaded  boats  passing  these  sluices 
up  stream  will  be  greater  than  has  been  supposed,  (for  the  tow  will  completely  fill  the 
sluice,)  and  v/ill  require  some  modifications  of  the  present  method  of  towing.  The 
water  flow  of  the  Kanawha  being  1,100  to  1,300  feet  per  second,  is  not  suiiicient  to 
fill  such  a  sluice,  but  will  require  from  800  to  1,000  feet  more.  To  obtain  this  we  must 
have  re'wOurse  to  a  reservoir,  and  I  therefore  include  in  the  estimate  the  cost  of  one  sur- 
vej^ed  by  Mr.  Ellet  for  this  purpose,  described  by  him  as  "Meadow  Reservoir."  His 
estimate,  as  revised,  amounts  to  $529,080,  but,  as  one  with  a  tenth  of  its  capacity  will 
be  sunicient,  I  have  placed  it  at  §250,000.  To  this  is  added  the  estimate  for  dams,  &c., 
by  Mr.  Byers,  increased  by  80  per  cent,  to  allow  of  more  permanent  constructions  than 
those  proposed  by  him,  as  well  as  a  greater  depth  of  water,  $723,900,  making  a  total  of 
S973,900. 

The  mean  velocity  of  current  in  the  sluices  will  be  3  feet  per  second,  or  about  2  miles 
per  hour,  which  will  be  encountered  for  a  short  ""distance  only,  and  the  wide  pools  be- 
tween the  dams  will  off"er  every  facility  for  the  passage  of  boats  moving  in  opposite  di- 
rections. In  case  the  system  of  towing  cannot  be  changed  to  occupy  less  width  than  is 
now  usual,  (I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be,)  then  recourse  must  be  had  to  locks 
and  dams,  for  which  the  conditions  are  peculiarly  favorable,  if  any  obstructed  navigation 
can  be  tolerated.  An  approximate  estimate  shows  the  cost  of  such  an  improvement  to 
be  about  $1,000,000. 

TIME  OP  COMPLETION- 

A  material  question  is  the  time  which  will  be  required  for  the  completion  of  this 
Y7ork.  Provided  funds  are  supplied  to  keep  pace  with  their  economical  expenditure, 
the  opening  of  the  line  will  be  governed  by  the  time  necessary  to  complete  the  long  or 
"  Lorraine  "  tunnel.  If  we  suppose  a  progress  of  30  feet  per  month  to  be  made  in  each 
shaft,  and  100  feet  per  mouth  in  each  heading,  (and  double  this  has  been  made  in  the 
Mount  Cenis  tunnel,)  then  the  longjst  time  will  be  consumed  in  the  west  heading  of  shaft 
No.  4  and  the  east  heading  of  shaft  No.  5,  which  will  require  five  years  and  two  months 
from  the  date  of  commencement.  Ten  months  may  be  consumed  in  preparation  and  in 
trimming  up  after  the  opening  iu  made  through.  We  may  therefore  safely  say  that  the 
work  can  be  completed  in  six  years  from  the  time  it  is  put  into  tlie  hands  of  a  competent 
contractor. 

As  these  shafts  will  be  the  deepest  on  the  line  of  tunnel,  (the  portion  between  them 
lies  under  the  summits  of  Kate  Moantain,)  I  mil  not  venture  to  predict  what  character 
of  rock  will  be  encountered.  If  it  should  be  slate  or  shaly  sandstone,  much  more  rapid 
progress  can  be  made  ;  if  compact  sandstone  or  limestone,  even  then  the  rate  of  100 
feet  per  month  ought  to  be  attained. 

Much  water  will  probably  be  met  with,  and  will  require  the  use  of  the  most  improved 
pumping  machinery. 


22 


JAMES  EIVER  AED  KAISTAWHA  CANAL. 


The  great  quantity  of  material  to  be  removed — about  one  ton  in  every  four  minutes — 
will  be  facilitated  by  the  large  area  of  tunnel,  but  will  require  skilful  management  and 
the  best  mechanical  helps. 

CHESAPEAKE  AND  OSIO  RAILROAD. 

From  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek  to  the  mouth  of  Scary,  about  16  miles  below 
Charleston,  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Eaiiroad  follows  the  valleys  of  the  Greenbrier, 
New,  and  Kanawha  Rivers. 

The  location  made  for  the  Covington  and  Ohio  Railroad,  of  which  this  is  the  successor, 
took  into  view  the  construction  of  the  water  line,  and  was  placed  at  an  elevation  above 
the  reach  of  floods  as  increased  by  the  dams  to  be  erected,  and  high  enough  to  permit 
the  passage  of  boats  beneath  its  bridges.  The  location  by  the  present  company,  how- 
ever, is  but  a  few  feet  above  the  maximum  freshet  height  of  the  river  iu  its  unimproved 
condition,  and  will  be  flooded  in  high  water  if  this  project  is  carried  out.  But  little 
work,  hovfevei%  lias  yet  been  done  on  it  which  would  not  be  available  for  a  location 
high  enough  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  water  line  ;  but  it  is  understood  that  the  entire 
road  will  be  placed  under  contract  in  the  spring,  and  it  becomes  therefore  of  great  im- 
portance that  the  question  of  the  construction  of  the  water  line  be  determined  at  an 
early  day,  and  an  engagement  entered  into  with  the  railroad  company  for  the  necessary 
changes  in  its  location.  Negotiations  have  been  opened  and  propositions  made  by 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  with  a  view  to  arrange  the  terms  upon 
which  the  alterations  would  be  made  by  the  railroad,  but  so  far  as  I  am  advised,  without 
definite  results. 

MODE  OP  TRANSPORTATION. 

Through  freights  will  be  transported  by  barges  towed  by  steam  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Kanawha  to  Greenbrier  Bridge,  and  thence  by  canal-boats  to  Richmond,  moved,  I  would 
say,  by  horse-power,  were  I  not  satisfied  that  steam  will  be  introduced  as  the  motor  on 
large  canals,  before  this  work  can  be  constructed. 

For  some  classes  of  freights  it  may  be  more  economical  to  use  barges  small  enough  to 
go  through  on  the  canal,  two  of  v>^hich  can  pass  the  river  locks  at  once,  and  thus  avoid 
the  necessity  of  brea.king  bulk.  But  I  apprehend  that  for  grain,  which  will  probably 
form  the  greater  part  of  the  freight,  the  larger  barges  will  be  used  and  the  cargoes 
transferred  at  Greenbrier  Bridge.  With  proper  elevators  the  cost  of  transfer  need  not 
exceed  one  cent  per  bushel. 

In  the  present  uncertain  and  embarrassed  condition  of  the  Ohio  and  Kanawha  naviga- 
tion, heavy  freiglits  are  carried  for  about  1.8  mill  per  ton  per  mile.  It  is  then  too  much 
to  assume  that  by  a  systematic  organization  and  the  use  of  larger  boats  the  cost  may  be 
reduced  to  IJ  mill.    We  will,  however,  put  it  at  2  mills. 

I  estimate  the  cost  on  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  at  3  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  and 
on  the  canal  at  3.6  mills,  making  an  average  of  about  3.18  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  or 
$1  52-J  for  the  whole  distance  from  the  Ohio  to  Richmond. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  improvement  will  be  about   $48,000.000 


Six  per  cent,  on  which  is ......  -     $2,880,000 

Annual  cost  for  maintenance ......  ,   387,200 


3,267,200 

With  a  trade  of  5,000,000  tons  per  annum,  a  charge  of  65.3  cents  per  ton  on  the 
through  route  will  pay  these  expenses  at  the  rate  of  1.34  mill  per  ton  per  mile,  making 
total  cost,  with  tolls,  but  without  profits  to  carriers,  4.5  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 

Per  ton. 

The  average  charges  for  ten  years  from  Chicago  to  New  York  have  been  by  the 

water  lines   $7  66  J 

And  by  Central  Railroad   14:  31 

From  St.  Louis  flour  has  been  carried  to  New  York  by  rail  for   13  00 

And  by  way  of  New  Orleans  for   •  H  50 

The  actual  cost  of  transportation  per  ton  per  mile  by  the  Virginia  water  line  would  be 
as  follows : 

From  St.  Louis  to  mouth  of  Kanawha,  903  miles,  at  .3  cent   $2  71 

Mouth  of  Kanawha  to  Richmond,  480  miles,  at  .316  cent  1  52 

Richmond  to  Hampton  Roads,  100  miles,  at  ,25  cent     25 

Two  transshipments  -   40 

Cost  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York,  without  tolls  on  canal  or  profit  to  carriers.  #  »    4  88 

From  Dubuque,  Iowa,  one  of  the  cities  on  the  Mississippi  nearest  to  Cliicago,  to 
New  York  by  rail  is  1.145  miles;  one  ton  of  freight  moved  over  this  distance, 
at  .12  cent  per  mile,  would  cost   $13  74 


JAMES  EIVER  A^^D  EAlTAWHA  CANAL.  ^3 

From  Dubiiqe  to  ISTew  York,  by  rail  to  Chicago,  and  tlience  by  the  northern  water 
lines,  cost  as  follows  : 

Dubuque  to  Chicago,  by  rail,  188  miles,  at  .12  cent  $2  25 

Chicago  to  Buffalo,  by  the  lakes,  1,042  miles,  at  .2  cent                                        2  08 

Buffalo  to  West  Troy,  by  Erie  Canal,  350  miles,  at  A  cent                                    1  40 

West  Troy  to  New  York,  by  Hudson  River,  151  miles,  at  .25  cent   38 

Three  transshipments  ,  e  -  —  -  *  .  =   50 


6  62 


From  Dubuque  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  Virginia  water  line,  will  cost: 

Dubuque  to  mouth  of  Kanawha,  by  river,  1,367  miles,  at  .3  cent    $4  10 

Mouth  of  Kanawha  to  Richmond,  480  miles,  at  .316  cent   1  52 

RichnjLond  to  Hampton  Roads,  100  miles,  at  .25  cent   25 

Two  transshipments  ,    40 


Total   6  27 


Showing  a  difference  from  Dubuque  of  29  cents  per  ton  by  the  Virginia  water  lines 
over  that  by  the  lakes,  although  the  difference  of  distance  against  it  is  241  miles.  Of 
a,ll  points  on  the  Mississippi,  Dubuque  is  one  of  the  most  favorable  to  the  Northern 
lakes,  in  this  comparison.  The  Virginia  route  is  open  several  months,  during  which  the 
Northern  lines  are  closed  by  ice,  and  is  free  from  the  dangers  which  affect  that  naviga- 
tion during  the  busiest  months  of  the  grain  movement. 

In  addition  to  through  freights  from  the  West  to  the  seaboard,  the  trade  of  the  Vir- 
ginia line  will  be  increased  by  local  developments.  The  coal  deposits  of  the  Kanawha 
have  been  worived  with  marked  success,  though  to  a  comparatively  limited  extent.  Bi- 
tuminous, canal,  and  splint  coals  are  found  in  abundance,  and  are  mined  with  very  little 
cost.  The  iron  ores  of  East  Virginia,  lying  near  the  line  of  the  canal,  cover  large  tracts 
of  country.  They  are  of  excellent  quality,  and  will  be  extensively  developed  by  cheap 
coal  from  the  Kanawha.  Three-fourths  of  the  salt-works,  formerly  so  productive,  are 
now,  I  am  informed,  "dead  rented"*  to  proprietors  of  other  works  on  the  Ohio,  to  pre- 
vent their  competition.  They  are  capable  of  any  required  development.  The  general 
argument  for  the  construction  of  this  work  is  to  be  found  in  the  necessity  for  more  lines 
of  transportation,  and  for  cheaper  rates  from  the  Northwest  to  the  Atlantic,  as  set  forth 
in  the  memorials  to  Congress  of  the  States  of  Virginia  and  lovv'a.  Time  has  not  permit- 
ted me  to  present  from  original  sources  such  statistics  of  Western  production  and  trans- 
portation as  would  have  been  desirable. 

The  surplus  products  of  the  Northwest  exceed  twenty-five  million  tons,  of  which  from 
five  to  six  million  come  to  the  Atlantic  States  over  our  four  trunk  lines  of  railway  and 
the  Erie  Canal.  The  total  wheat  and  corn  crop  of  1868  was  nearly  1,000,000,000  bush- 
els, of  whicii  there  were  received  at  the  lake  ports  84,000,000  bushels  ;  shipped  to  New 
York,  by  water,  53,000,000;  by  rail,  14,000,000,  and  exported,  30,000,000  bushels.  In 
1869  the  receipts  at  lake  ports  were  113,000,000  bushels^  at  New  York  62,000,000  bush- 
els, and  the  exports  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1869,  35,000,000  bushels. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  high  prices  for  farm  products  since  the  vfar,  large  quantities  of 
grain  have  been  sent  forward  at  rates  for  transportation  which  they  cannot  hereafter 
pay.  During  the  season  of  1870,  the  reduction  of  tolls  and  freights  on  the  Erie  Canal 
made  up  to  some  extent  for  the  fall  in  prices,  and  considerable  quantities  were  sent  by 
way  of  the  St.  Lawrence  through  Canada. 

"  The  growth  of  the  West  constantly  keeps  ahead  of  the  progress  of  the  railroads, 
and  the  result  is,  the  transportation  companies  absolutely  conirol  the  rate  of  freight. 
The  present  railroad  lines  having  as  much  freight  as  they  can  carry,  there  is  no  motive 
for  competition  between  them,  but  rather  for  collusion  to  secure  the  highest  possible 
rates. 

"  So  heavy  are  the  transportation  taxes  now  laid  on  this  trade,  (that  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  Northwest,)  that  at  the  present  time,  (April,  1870,)  breadstuff's  and  produce  to  the 
value  of  hundreds  of  millions  is  perishing  in  the  West,  for  the  reason  that  it  would  cost 
more  to  move  it  to  the  seaboard  than  it  would  bring  when  it  reached  there.  This  fact, 
and  the  consequent  discouragement  of  production,  is  a  cause  of  serious  alarm,  when  we 
consider  that  it  is  on  a  Western  produce  that  we  must,  in  a  great  measure,  depend,  to 
make  up  the  balance  of  our  foreign  trade. 

"  Without  cheaper  transportation,  however,  we  cannot  compete  with  Russia  and  other 
grain-producing  countries  in  foreign  markets.;  but  with  free  navigation  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi, via  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers,  the  lakes  and  the  Erie  Canal,  to  the  sea- 
board at  this  point,  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  country  would  be  more  fully 


*  Paid  to  remain  idle. 


JAMES  mVER  AISD  EANAWHA  CANAL. 


and  properly  developed,  the  volume  of  our  export  trade  largely  increased,  and  the 
prosperity  of  our  State  permanently  assured,"  (Hunt'f?  Merchant's  Magazine,  April, 
1870.) 

But  I  apprehend  that  this  portion  of  the  argument  will  be  admitted  by  all : 

1.  That  the  depression  of  business  is  greatly  affected  by  the  high  cost  of  food. 

2.  That  cheaper  transportation  will  give  cheaper  food  at  the  East. 

3.  That  Western  agriculture  will  be  stimulated  to  increased  transportation. 

4.  That  the  quantity  and  value  of  our  exports  will  also  be  increased. 

To  those  who  have  investigated  the  subject,  the  great  economy  of  water  transporta- 
tion is  well  known,  and  it  is  generally  conceded  by  the  mercantile  community. 

We  have  but  one  canal  connecting  the  Western  waters  with  the  Atlantic,  the  Erie. 
Of  its  importance,  notwithstanding  the  rapid  growth  of  the  railroad  system  of  the  State, 
as  a  source  of  wealth  and  an  element  of  commercial  prosperity,  we  can  best  judge  from 
the  tonnage  statistics  of  the  State  engineer's  report,  which  show  that  during  the  seven 
months  of  navigation,  in  1869,  the  canals  moved  more  freight  than  was  carried  by  all 
the  railroads  of  the  State  during  the  year.  • 

The  Erie  Canal  proper  has  cost  in  construction,  improvement,  repairs,  and  manage- 
ment, with  interest  on  all  expenditures,  8140,430,953  ;  and  has  paid  in  tolls,  with  inte- 
rest on  all  sums  received,  $181,828,603 ;  or  a  net  profit  over  principal  and  interest  of 
$41,397,650. 

Kotwithstanding  the  high  rate  of  tolls  which  produced  this  enormous  profit,  the 
charges  for  transportation  by  canal  have  generally  been  about  half  as  much  as  by  rail. 
Although  at  times  the  railroad  rates  have  been  reduced  to  the  same  as  the  canal,  they 
have  then  been  less  than  cost,  and  required  the  imposition  of  excessive  charges  on  local 
trade  to  make  up  the  loss. 

For  the  year  1867,  canal  charges  on  the  round  trip  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  were  ave- 
raged at  1  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  44  per  cent,  of  which  was  toll. 

The  average  receipts  per  ton  per  mile  during  the  years  1865,  1866,  and  1867,  were,  on 
New  York  State  canals,  i  cent ;  New  York  Central  Railroad,  292  cents ;  Erie  Railroad, 
242  cents. 

The  policy  of  low  tolls  on  her  canals  has  been  inaugurated  by  the  State  of  New  York, 
with  the  view  to  retain  and  increase  the  immense  trade  brought  by  them  to  her  empo- 
rium. The  profits  of  transporting,  handling,  selling,  and  shipping  will  advance  her  pros- 
perity far  more  than  the  receipts  for  tolls.  Another  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal  is 
urged,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,000,  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  cost  of  transportation  from 
2.16  to  1.7  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  Pennsylvania  canals,  so  long  a  burden  and  expense  to  that  State,  though  of  small 
dimensions  and  unfitted  for  the  most  economical  transportation,  having  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad  Company,  under  the  skilful  management 
which  has  accomplished  such  great  results  for  the  railway,  are  being  brought  into  condi 
tion  to  facilitate  and  cheapen  transportation  on  their  lines. 

Hon.  William  I.  McAlpine,  or]^e  of  our  most  eminent  engineers,  in  an  address  delivered 
by  him  in  1868,  states  the  case  with  so  much  force  and  with  such  authority  that  I  intr<,  - 
Quce  here  his  remarks  : 

"The  Erie  Canal  now  conveys  one-fourth  of  the  whole  of  the  exports  of  that  vast 
interior  region  which  I  have  already  described,  and  as  much  of  it  during  its  six  months 
of  uninterrupted  navigation  as  all  of  the  trunk  railways  together  during  the  same 
time. 

"Every  canal-boat  v/hich  comes  to  this  city  with  an  average  cargo  is  more  than  the 
average  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  trains.  In  the  busy  canal  season,  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  such  boats  come  daily  to  tide-water,  and  the  New  York  Central 
Rail-Road  traffic  never  reaches  thirty  trains  a  day. 

"  Such  a  canal  traffic  would  make  more  than  twenty  miles  of  railroad  cars,  and  there 
is  neither  room  nor  convenience  for  discharging  one-fourth  of  that  number.  The  slow, 
plodding  canal-boat  attracts  no  attention,  while  the  bustle,  noise,  and  whirl  of  a  freight 
train  creates  a  sensation  in  every  village  through  which  it  passes.  The  locks  on  the  ca- 
nals act  as  regulators  of  the  boats,  which  are  separated  just  the  distance  which  they 
would  move  during  one  lockage  ;  and  hence  the  canal  business  proceeds  methodically, 
and  gives  no  idea  of  its  great  volume.  Nor  is  this  appreciated  until  some  stoppage  oc- 
curs, and  then  a  delay  of  tv/enty-four  hours  will  accumulate  hundreds  of  boats,  enough 
to  fill  the  Central  track  half-way  from  here  to  Utica. 

"One  of  the  commissioners  told  me  to-day  that  a  break  at  Schenectady,  which  re- 
quired six  days  to  repair,  filled  the  canal  to  Utica  on  one  side  and  to  the  Hudson  on  the 
other. 

"  Mr.  Dullard  told  me  last  fall  that  the  freight  which  has  frozen  upon  the  canal  would 
(with  their  other  business)  occupy  all  the,  power  of  the  Central  six  months  to  transport 
it  to  the  Hudson.  Six  days  more  of  canal  navigation  would  have  brought  every  pound 
of  this  freight  to  tide-water. 

"  Imagine,  if  you  can,  what  would  be  the  efiect  of  a  catastrophe  that  should  stop  the 
navigation  of  the  canals  for  one  season.    All  of  the  New  York  roads  could  not  traas- 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


25 


port  one-tenth  and  all  of  the  roads  to  the  seaboard  put  together  not  one-Jlfih  of  it.  Half 
the  merchants  of  New  York,  connected  directly  or  indirectly  with  this  canal  traffic, 
■would  be  bankrupted,  and  their  rivals  in  Portland,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
would  be  correspondingly  profited. 

"  It  is  evident  that  all  the  channels  of  trade  in  operation  between  the  Atlantic  and 
the  West,  as  now  managed,  are  inadequate  to  accommodate  or  perform  it  at  a  cost 
which,  in  time  of  low  prices,  will  allow  the  agricultural  products  of  the  "West  to  be 
transported. 

"  In  a  broad  view  of  the  subject,  there  is  no  antagonism  between  the  interests  of  the 
canals  and  railways  of  this  State.  They  have  each  their  appropriate  functions  to  per- 
form, and,  while  accomplishing  these,  each  of  them  is  adding  to  the  business  of  the 
other. 

"A  prominent  cause  of  the  transfer  of  much  of  the  legitimate  business  of  the  canals 
to  the  railways  of  our  State  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  former  is  under  individual  man- 
agement, and  the  latter  is  controlled  by  politicians.  As  the  manager  of  several  Western 
railways,  where  the  direction  and  route  of  a  large  transport  was  controlled,  I  can 
safely  say  that  I  was  never  for  a  week  without  the  presence  of  a  solicitor  of  Freights 
from  one  or  more  of  the  iSTew  York  railways,  and  in  ten  years  of  such  active  manage- 
ment I  never  once  had  an  applicant  to  direct  our  freights  over  the  Erie  Canal.  All 
that  took  that  direction  (and  it  was  of  no  inconsiderable  amount)  was  from  the  sheer 
force  of  influence  of  its  own  merit." 

The  reports  of  the  railroad  companies  do  not  furnish  the  means  of  determining  the 
cost  to  them  of  transportation.  The  most  favorable  statements  represent  it  to  be  1.2 
cent  per  ton.    Coal  in  large  quantities  can  be  carried  at  less  cost. 

It  has  been  urged  as  against  the  project  of  a  new  water  line  that  railroads  of  easy 
grades  and  curves  and  running  at  low  rates  of  speed  could  carry  freights  at  almost 
nominal  rates.  Undoubtedly  by  such  means,  with  a  track  exclusively  for  slow  freights, 
and  perhaps  by  adopting  to  some  extent  the  lessons  of  the  narrow-guage  railway,  rail- 
road transportation  may  be  very  much  cheapened.  Good  authorities  maintain,  how- 
ever, that  a  reduction  of  speed  below  8  to  10  miles  per  hour  is  not  economical,  and  the 
third  track  adds  materially  to  the  expense.  But  the  first  argument  is  the  fact  that 
none  of  our  through  lines  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  inaugurate  such  a  system, 
while  they  have  plenty  of  freights  at  higher  and  better-paying  rates.  Freights  of  cer- 
tain classes  belong  legitimately  to  the  railroads ;  they  are  of  greater  value,  and  can 
afford  to  pay  higher  rates,  and  for  sucli  articles  the  great  saving  in  time,  by  which  a 
larger  business  can  be  done  on  the  same  capital,  will  always  give  it  the  preference. 
To  these  the  water  line  can  lay  no  claim.  Its  specialty  will  be  the  transportation  of 
such  as  would  scarcely  be  borne  by  the  railway  in  any  case,  such  as  are  now  perish- 
ing in  the  AYest  because,  it  would  cost  more  to  move  them  to  the  seaboard  than  they 
would  bring  when  they  reached  there." 

Over  the  water  line  by  the  lakes  this  one  has  the  advantage  of  being  but  little 
obstructed  by  ice,  and  it  is  free  from  the  heat  and  dampness  of  the  New  Orleans  route, 
which,  for  more  than  half  the  year,  cannot,  without  risk,  be  used  for  grain  and  other 
articles. 

But  the  tendencies  of  the  great  railway  companies  are  toward  consolidation.  Among 
them  there  can  be  no  real  competition,  attempts  at  which  always  end  in  combination. 
"  It  is  on  the  water  way  *  *  *  rather  than  on  new  lines  of  railroad  thr.L  we  must 
chiefly  rely  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  much-needed  reforms.  Lakes,  rivers  and 
canals  are  the  only  sure  protection  against  railroad  monopoly." 

If  it  should  be  determined  to  prosecute  this  work,  although  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  interests  involved  that  its  completion  should  not  be  delayed,  at  least 
one  season  will  be  required  for  the  proper  examination  of  the  line,  its  relocation,  sur- 
rey, preparation  of  plans,  and  getting  it  ready  for  contract. 

Some  time  might  be  saved  by  commencing  work  on  the  deep  shafts  of  the  Lorraine 
tunnel,  as  soon  as  a  careful  location  could  be  made. 

These  necessary  surveys  and  preparations  v»-ill  cost  about  $80,000.  "Work  on  the  tun- 
nel shafts,  to  the  amount  of  $10,000  or  815,000,  could  be  done  before  the  spring  of  1872. 

The  above  estimate  is  not  intended  to  provide  further  information  to  enable^'Congress 
to  decide  the  question,  but  supposes  the  project  adopted,  and  the  work  to  be  prepared 
for  contract. 

The  estimated  cost  being  nearly  $48,000,000,  and  the  time  required  six  years,  an 
average  expenditure  of  $8,000,000'^per  annum  will  be  necessary. 

Considering  that  this  water  line  will  be  closed  at  its  junction  with  the  Ohio  for 
about  three  months  in  each  year,  by  lovr  water  in  that  stream,  I  was  at  first  disposed 
to  recommend  the  improvement  of  the  rivers  to  a  less  depth  than  that  adopted  for 
them;  but  ther'^  is  no  reason  why  the  capacity  of  the  line  should  not  be  kept  up 
during  such  periods  as  furnish  sufficient  water,  more  particularly  as  at  such  times  trans- 
portation may  be  cheapened  by  the  use  of  boats  made  to  pass  through  the  canal 
without  breaking  bulk  from  the  point  of  shipment  on  Western  waters  to  Richmond  or 

4 


26 


JAMES  KLYER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


Hampton  Roads.  At  the  risk,  however,  of  touching  questions  not  committed  to  me,  I 
would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  water  line  involves  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio 
River  from  the  mouth  of  Kanawha  down.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  why  a  river  of  such 
capacities  should  have  been  left  in  its  present  condition.  With  a  low-water  discharge  of 
3,500  cubic  feet  per  second,  sufficient  at  such  tim_es  to  fill  a  channel  200  feet  wide  and  7 
feet  deep,  it  afford?,  on  its  shoals,  a  depth  only  one-fourth  as  much  spread  over  a  width 
of  about  one  thousand  feet. 

The  following  is  the  estimated  cost  in  detail  of  the  improvement,  as  recommended, 
from  mouth  of  Fork  Run  to  mouth  of  Kanawha  River  : 
Estimate  from  Fork  River  to  Greenbrier  River  : 


Grubbing  and  cleaning  67  miles,  at  $200   "  $1,340 

141,700  yards  of  embankment,  in  addition  to  price  for  excavation,  at  10 

cents   14,170 

313,149  yards  earth  excavation,  at  30  cents   93  945 

1,203,865  yards  rock  excavation,  at  $1  25   1,504^831 

13,000  yards  of  slope  wall,  at  $1  50   19  500 

6,500  yards  of  lining,  at  40  cents   2^600 

8  locks  at  827,000   216^000 

1  lock,  at  $50,000   5o'oOO 

3  culverts   5,000 

2  waste  weirs,   3,000 

7  overfall  wastes   5,600 

1  aqueduct,  wooden  trunk,  to  carry  Fork  Run  over  cut   5,600 

2  bridges,  $4,950  and  5,625   10,625 


1,931,511 

Tunnel,  40,580  feet  long,  2,333,350  yards  at  S5,  including  exca- 
vation for  arch  r—  $11,666,750 

Shafts  2,700  lineal  feet,  14,400  yards,  at  $20   288,000 

Masonry  of  arch  and  tow-path,  162,320  yards  at  $8   1,298,660 

 "  13,253,310 


15,184,821 

Feeder,  16,000  feet  long   121,000 

Dam,  w'th  abutment  and  guard  gate   41,000 

Embankment,  8,000  yards   2,000 

  155,000 

Anthony's  Creek  reservoir  (Mr.  Lorraine's  estimate  :) 

456,000  3^ards  embankment,  at  30  cents   136,800 

977  yards  masonry  arch,  at  $12    11,724 

2,989  yards  masonrv  abutments,  at  $8   23,912 

14,000  bushels  cement   10,600 

950,000  pounds  iron  pipes,  at  8  cents   76,000 

_  _  258,936 

Land  damage,  200  acres,  at  $40  ;  3,000  acres,  at  $10,   38,000 


15,636,767 


Greenbrier  and  IN'ew  Rivers  : 

989,130  cubic  yards  of  masonry,  at  $10   $9,891,300 

22,852  cubic  yards  of  concrete,  at  $5  "   114,260 

400,000  cubic  yards  of  riprap,  at  $1  50   600,000 

6,8h2,000  feet,  board  measure,  of  timber  and  plank,  at  5  cents   344,100 

1,401,622  cubic  yards  of  earth  excavation,  at  40  cents   560,648 

168,600  cubic  yards  of  rock  excavation,  at  $1  50  (partly  under  water)   252,900 

1,470,000  cubic  yards  embankment,  at  20  cents  -   294,000 

77,333,  cubic  yards  of  puddling,  at  25  cents   19,333 

Timber  and  Iron  in  coping  of  dams   99,000 

65i),0(!0  cubic  yards  of  graveling,  at  40  cents   220,000 

Lock  Gates,  88,000  per  lock,  valves,  &c.,  $1,200  per  lock   552,000 

55  lock  houses,  at  81,000   56,000 

For  dam  and  lock  at  Lyken's  Shoals   130,000 

Land  damages,  150  acres,  at  $100   $15,000 

Land  damages,  9,600  acres,  at  $10   96,000 

  111,000 


13,243,541 


JAMES  EITEK  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


27 


HECAPITULATIOX. 


From  moutli  of  Fork  River  to  Greenbrier  River   $15,636,757 

Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers   13,243,541 

Kanawha  River   973,900 

Add  10  per  cent,  for  contingencies   2,986,420 


Total  from  Fork  Run   32,840,618 


Respectfullv  submitted. 

WM.  R.  BUTTON, 

Chief  Engineer. 

Major  TVm.  P.  Craighill, 

United  States  Engineers. 


NECESSITY  OF  A  CENTRAL  LINE  OF  NAVIGATION  DIRECTLY  EASTWARD 
FROM  THE  OHIO  RIVER  TO  THE  CHESAPEAKE  BAY. 

Cheap  transportation  is  the  great  necessity  of  the  West.  Its  products  exceed  in 
amount  the  means  at  command  of  cheap  outlet  to  the  seaboard.  They  press  constantly 
upon  the  avenues  of  transportation,  and  millions  of  Western  producers  are  thus  placed 
under  the  power  of  carriers.  A  system  of  transportation  is  needed  v.hich  shall  be  free 
from  interruption,  and  sufficient  to  carry  all  the  freights  promptly  and  at  low  charges. 
The  railroads  do  not  furnish  this  system.  Their  charges  are  high,  and  are  put  up  when 
the  business  is  most  pressing.  They  are  not  common  highways,  but  close  coi  porations. 
Though  their  rates  may  be  borne  for  short  distances,  yet  but  few  of  the  agricultural 
and  mineral  products  of  the  West  can  bear  even  their  minimum  charges  over  the  long 
distances  which  intervene  between  very  extensive  portions  of  the  far  interior  and  the 
seaboard.  Beyond  certain  distances  from  the  Eastern  markets,  the  great  bulk  of  agri- 
cultural and  mineral  products  must  rely  exclusively  upon  water  transportation. 

There  are  now  but  two  routes  of  continuous  navigation  by  which  they  can  obtain 
outlet — that  by  the  Northern  lakes  and  that  by  the  Mexican  Gulf.  But  these,  besides 
being  liable  to  the  casualties  of  climate,  (one  of  them  to  five  months  of  interruption  by 
ice,)  are  so  circuitous,  that  they  require  the  products  of  our  very  extended  country  to 
pass  beyond  its  boundaries  in  seeking  their  way  to  its  own  markets.  This  tedious 
circuit,  while  it  is  at  all  times  objectionable  on  the  score  of  time  and  cost,  is  most 
especially  so  whenever  the  nation  becomes,  or  is  in  danger  of  becoming,  involved  in 
hostilities  with  a  maritime  power.  During  the  recent  war  with  a  domestic  power,  whose 
ports  were  rigidly  blockaded,  this  evil  was  most  sensibly  felt,  even  with  reference  to 
the  route  by  the  lakes.  What  might  not  the  evil  be  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Great 
Britain  ? 

The  great  length  of  these  two  circuitous  lines  of  water  transit,  and  the  non-exist- 
ence, up  to  the  present  time,  of  any  continuous  line  of  navigation  directly  across  the 
country  from  the  centers  of  the  interior  to  the  center  of  the  seaboard,  have  compelled 
a  resort  to  the  policy  of  substituting  railroad  transportation  over  the  direct  routes.  But 
although  the  cost  of  carriage  has  been  much  cheapened  on  these  works,  they  cannot 
be  thrown  open  to  general  use  and  free  competition.  Meantime  water  transportation 
has  itself  undergone  very  great  improvements,  which  have  had  the  effect  of  reducing 
freights  far  below  any  possible  minimum,  at  which  railroads  can  aflbrd  them.  It  is  now 
practicable,  on  lines  of  unbroken  navigation,  for  the  heaviest  classes  of  agricultural 
and  mineral  products  to  be  borne,  from  distances  exceeding  five  thousand  miles  in  the 
interior,  to  the  seaboard,  at  charges  by  no  means  prohibitory. 

Even  at  present  the  great  bulk  of  Western  trade  avoids  the  direct  transit  across  the 
country  afforded  by  the  railroads,  and  seeks  the  circuitous  and  more  or  less  hazardous 
routes  of  the  lakes  and  of  the  Gulf,  on  account  of  cheapness ;  thus  proving,  that  as 
water  will  seek  its  lowest  outlet,  however  great  the  circuit  it  may  have  to  pursue,  so 
trade  will  seek  its  cheapest  outlet,  however  long  may  be  the  passage.  It  is  true  that 
during  the  recent  war  vast  quantities  of  produce  went  to  market  over  the  railroads ; 
but  then  the  Gulf  route  was  closed  and  the  lake  route  m.uch  obstructed.  There  was 
also  a  stronger  reason  even  than  this,  which  found  its  cause  in  the  high  prices  result- 
ing from  the  condition  of  the  currency  and  the  existence  of  war.  The  direction  which 
phenomena  gave  to  the  movement  of  products  is  thus  accounted  for  by  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Census  in  his  report  under  the  Department  of  Agriculture  : 

"Had  it  not  been  for  the  high  premium  on  gold,  the  price  of  wheat  in  this  country, 
and  especially  at  the  West,  would  have  been  less  than  the  cost  of  production  ;  as  it  is, 
the  advance  in  gold  has  served  to  increase  prices  in  the  West  much  more  in  propor- 
tion than  in  the  Eastern  or  Middle  States.  For  instance,  if  a  bushel  of  American  wheat 
sells  at  $  1  25  in  London,  and  the  cost  of  sending  it  from  Iowa  is  $  1,  the  Iowa  farmer, 
with  gold  at  par,  receives  only  25  cents  a  bushel  for  the  wheat.    Should  gold  continue 


28 


JAMES  RIVBIl  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


at  $  2  50,  (the  price  at  the  present  writing,  1864,)  though  the  wheat  still  brings  only 
$1  25  per  bushel  in  London,  and  the  cost  of  sending  it  there  should  be  $1  per  bushel, 
as  before,  the  Iowa  farmer  would  receive  $2  12  per  bushel  for  his  wheat  instead  of  25 
cents,  as  would  be  the  case  if  gold  was  at  par.  The  wheat  is  sold  for  gold,  and  $1  25 
in  gold  sells  for  $3  12  in  legal  money.  Deduct  $1  as  the  expense  of  sending  it  to  Lon- 
don, and  we  have  $2  12  as  the  price  which  wheat  should  bring  in  Iowa.  In  other  words, 
the  premium  on  gold  increases  the  price  of  wheat  in  Iowa  eight-fold." 

This  statement  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Census,  though  not  accurate  in  its 
details,  even  as  of  the  date  when  it  was  written,  yet  serves  to  suggest  the  manner  in 
which  war  prices,  in  conjunction  with  a  depreciated  currency,  may  operate  temporarily 
to  enable  the  owners  of  western  produce  to  pay  the  high  expenses  of  railroad  trans- 
portation. With  the  fall  of  prices  to  normal  rates,  and  with  the  gradual  decline  of 
the  premium  on  gold,  western  producers  find  themselves  obliged  to  desist  from  the  use 
of  railroads  for  heavy  products  for  long  distances,  and  again  to  recur  to  the  circuitous 
navigation  of  the  lakes  and  of  the  Gulf.  No  interior  water-line  of  continuoics  east  and 
west  navigation  yet  exists  loithin  the  United  States. 

But  if  a  line  of  cheap  water  transportation  were  opened  directly  eastward  from  the 
centers  of  western  production  to  the  centre  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  line,  it  would 
offer  all  the  advantages  of  directness,  shortness,  expedition,  and  freedom  from  inter- 
ruption, which  are  presented  by  the  central  lines  of  railroad ;  combined  with  the  in- 
dispensalle  desideratum  of  cheapness,  now  only  presented  by  the  circuitous  routes  of 
Gulf  and  lake  navigation.  Such  a  line  wonld  be  afforded  by  completing  the  unfinished 
portion  of  the  Virginia  Canal,  over  the  80  miles  of  distance  between  the  present  termi- 
nus at  Buchanan,  Botetourt  County,  Virginia,  and  the  Greenbrier  River,  in  Greenbrier 
County,  West  Virginia  .  This  work  would  connect  steamboat  na\igation  at  Richmond 
with  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Kanawha,  by  a  canal  277  miles  long;  whereas  the 
Erie  Canal  in  New  York  connects  steamboat  navigation  at  either  end  of  it  by  a  canal 
navigation  363  miles  in  length. 

American  genius  and  enterprise  have  accomplished  many  grand  achievements  for 
the  West ;  first,  the  application  of  steamboat  navigation  to  the  Mississippi  River  and 
its  great  tributaries ;  then  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal ;  then  the  construction  of 
great  lines  of  railroad  over  the  most  difficult  passes  of  the  Alleghanies  at  immense 
cost.  One  great  achievement  remains  to  be  performed.  It  is  the  opening  of  a  line  of 
water  transportation  directly  eastward  across  the  shortest  passage  of  the  Alleghanies, 
from  the  Ohio  to  the  base  of  the  Chesa,peake.  Railroad  transportation  is  for  manufac- 
turers, merchants,  speculators,  and  capitalists ;  water  transportation  is  for  the  people. 
A  line  of  navigation,  open  to  general  use,  accessible  to  all  classes,  is  needed  on  the 
shortest  route  from  the  interior  to  the  seaboard.  That  route  is  presented  by  the  inter- 
lapping  valleys  of  the  Kanawha  and  James  Rivers  in  Virginia,  connecting  the  channel 
of  the  Ohio  and  the  channel  of  the  James. 

Impressed  with  the  great  superiority  in  cheapness,  general  utility,  and  popular  con- 
venicnco  of  water  navigation  over  railroad  transportation,  for  their  increasing  pro- 
ducts, and  naturally  desiring  a  shorter,  more  central,  and  more  expeditious  line  of 
water  transit  than  the  present  circuitous  and  extraneous  ones  by  way  of  the  Northern 
Lakes  and  Southern  Gulf,  the  people  of  the  West  are  beginning  to  look  to  Congress  for 
the  provision  of  such  a  route.  With  this  object  in  view,  the  general  assembly  of 
Iowa,  at  its  last  session,  unanimously  voted  an  able  and  earnest  memorial  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  national  legislature,  following  it  by  a  resolution  "instructing  their  Senators 
and  requiring  their  Representatives  in  Congress  to  use  their  best  efforts  to  obtain  such 
aid  from  the  General  Government  as  will  secure  the  early  completion"  of  the  Virginia 
water  line. 

The  memorial  concludes  as  follows  : 

"This  is  a  work  of  great  national  importance.  Its  benefits  will  be  shared  directly 
by  more  than  half  the  people  of  this  country ;  and  indirectly  by  all.  It  is  a  necessary 
addition  to  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  western  rivers,  without  which 
the  benefits  of  that  measure  will  be  but  half  realized.  It  is  a  Vv^ork  to  be  done  by  the 
whole  country  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country.  It  belongs  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States. 

"Nothing  need  to  be  given.  An  advance  upon  good  security  for  the  return  of  prin- 
cipal and  interest  is  all  that  will  be  necessary.  Not  only  will  this  advance  be  returned 
in  kind  with  the  interest,  but  the  benefits  of  each  year  will  return  the  outlay  more 
than  five-fold.  Instead  of  increasing  our  national  burden  of  taxation  it  Avill  so  increase 
the  means  of  payment  as  to  greatly  lessen  it. 

"To  the  end,  then,  of  obtaining  Government  aid,  there  should  be  a  co-operative 
movement  of  cities,  towns,  and  States.  It  should  be  connected  with  the  western  river 
improvement  as  a  part  of  the  same  enterprise,  and  the  influence  of  the  great  interest 
to  be  promoted  by  it  should  be  concentrated  through  a  convention,  and  brought  to 
bear  upon  Congress,  to  insure  a  speedy  completion ;  keeping  it  always  in  mind  that 
every  year's  delay  is  a  loss  of  more  than  five  times  the  amount  required  for  that  object. 


JA]MES  MVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


29 


"  Resolved,  By  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  that  the  great  rivers  on  our 
eastern  and  western  borders  are  the  natural  highways  for  the  trade  and  commerce  of 
our  State,  and  any  measures  that  will  add  to  their  efficiency  and  importance  as  channels 
of  communication  will  increase  the  value  of  all  our  productions,  add  to  the  price  of  all 
real  property,  and  contribute  to  the  prosperity  of  all  our  people. 

"2.  That  the  line  of  water  communication  between  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  by  way  of  the  Kanawha  and  James  Rivers,  through  the  States  of 
Virginia  and  TTest  Virginia,  is  a  work  of  national  importance,  and  one  deeply  affecting 
the  interest  of  the  grain-producing  States  of  the  Northwest. 

"3.  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed,  and  our  Representatives  requested 
to  use  their  best  efforts  to  obtain  such  aid  from  the  General  Government  as  will  secure 
the  early  completion  of  said  line  of  water  communication. 

*'4.  That  a  copy  of  these  joint  resolutions  and  the  accompanying  memorial  be  for- 
warded by  the  secretary  of  the  State  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  and  to  each  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  iu  Congress." 

KESULTS  EFFECTED  BY  THE  ERIE  CAXiiL — OTHEBS  EQUALLY  GREAT  WOULD  ATTEXD  THE  OPEN- 
ING OF  THE  VIRGIXIA  CAXAL. 

Although  steamboat  navigation  on  the  western  waters  dates  from  1817,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  West  did  not  fairly  begin  until  1825.  In  October  of  that  year  the  great 
Erie  Canal  was  completed.  The  effect  was  virtually  to  give  another  mouth  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  It  opened  to  market  a  vast  region  Avhich  otherwise  could  have  presented 
but  limited  attractions  to  emigration.  The  fact  that  the  lake  country,  where  the  rigors 
of  winter  are  more  severe,  and  the  climatic  disadvantages  imposed'  upon  agriculture 
greater  than  in  any  part  of  the  Union,  has  undergone  a  more  rapid  development  than 
any  other,  is  due  in  chief  part  to  the  Erie  Canal.  This  work  brought  that  great  region 
within  readier  and  cheaper  reach  of  market  than  any  other  portion  of  the  West.  The 
long  and  tortuous  channel  of  the  Mississippi,  the  circuitous  navigation  of  the  Gulf,  and 
the  heating,  sweating,  and  moulding  effect  of  the  semi-tropical  and  moist  southern  cli- 
mate upon  many  products  of  agriculture,  presented  objections  to  the  Gulf  transit  which 
rendered  the  lake  route  preferable  to  it,  even  for  the  trade  of  localities  where  the  ad- 
vantage of  distance  was  less  considerable.  The  falls  of  the  Niagara  and  rapids  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  River  were  turned  by  the  canal,  which  completed  a  line  of  unbroken  nav- 
igation from  the  furthest  of  the  great  lakes  to  tide-water  at  Albany.  On  the  completion 
of  the  Erie,  several  canals  in  the  Northwest  were  immediately  projected,  and  were  soon 
completed,  connecting  the  lakes  with  the  Ohio  River  on  the  south,  and  the  Mississippi 
River  on  the  west.  These,  in  later  years,  were  followed  by  railroads  laid  down  in  the 
same  directions,  forming  portages  between  the  navigation  of  the  great  rivers  and  that  of 
the  lakes.  But  all  these  canals  and  railroads  pointed  to  the  Erie  Canal  as  the  common 
debouche.  These  works  were  all  in  the  first  instance  constructed  as  feeders  to  the  Erie 
Canal,  which  was  the  parent  work  and  grand  trunk  line  of  the  whole  system.  After  the 
system  of  works,  of  which  the  Erie  Canal  was  the  base,  had  stimulated  an  unprecedented 
development  of  population  and  production  in  the  West,  it  was  found  incapable  of  dis- 
charging the  vast  trade  which  it  had  created  ;  and  then  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge 
its  capacity,  and  to  construct  as  many  auxiliary  works  as  possible,  parallel  with  it. 
Hence  the  Welland  and  St.  Lawrence  Canals,  and  hence  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  in 
Canada,  and  the  New  York  Central,  the  New  York  and  Erie,  the  Pennsylvania  Central, 
and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroads,  within  the  United  States.  But  'it  may  be  said 
with  perfect  truth  that  if  there  had  been  no  Erie  Canal  the  stupendous  agricultural  de- 
velopment which  has  been  witnessed  in  the  West  would  not  have  taken  place,  and  that 
these  great  auxiliary  works  would  not  have  become  necessary  until  after  a  much  greater 
lapse  of  time. 

The  following  table  shows  the  effect  of  the  canal  upon  the  growth  of  imports,  exports, 
and  population  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  contrast  with  the  same  growth  in  Philadel- 
phia, where  the  influence  of  the  trade  of  the  canal  was  only  partial  and  indirect: 


Amount  of 
tolls  col- 
lected. 


$0,244 
1,0.56,922 
1,775,747 
3,273,899 


Tons,  total 
movement 
east  and 
•west. 


I  Valae  of  imports  at  the 
I  ports  of 


New  York. 


1,417,046 
3,076,617 


$38,556,064 
:60,n64.942 
116,667,558 


Philadel- 
phia. 


$9, .525, 89.3 
8,464,882 
12,065,834 


Value  of  exports  from| 
the  ports  cf 


Ne-w  York. 


Philadel- 
phia. 


}!n.769,511  .$5,743,-549 
17,666,62-1  4,291,793: 
.32,405,689    6,820,145  i 

'47,580,3571  4,501,606  i 


Population  of— 


Xew  York. 

Philadel- 

phia. 

123,706 

137,097 

203.007 

188,961 

312,712 

258,8.32 

615.394 

409,353 

30 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


The  power  of  a  direct  canal  running  west  and  east  to  attract  trade  to  itself  is  exhib- 
ited in  the  operations  of  the  Erie  Canal.  "  There  are  now  seven  great  railway  lines 
competing  with  this  work,  besides  the  canals  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  They  are  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio,  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  the  Atlantic  and  Great  Western,  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Erie,  the  Erie,  and  the  New  York  Central  Kailroads,  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  in  Canada.  Yet  these  great  railways  do  not  (computing 
with  theirs  all  the  trade  which  goes  to  Montreal,  Ogdensburg,  and  Cape  Vincent  by  lake) 
secure  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  total  eastward  movement  of  all  classes  of  freight 
from  the  West  to  the  seaboard  markets."  (Annual  statement  of  trade  and  commerce 
of  Buffalo  for  1865.) 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  railroads  that  they  stimulate  a  greater  production  in  the  country 
within  their  reach  than  they  can  transport.  Their  capacity  for  transportation  falls 
behind  the  demands  upon  it,  resulting  from  the  stimulus  which  they  impart  to  produc- 
tion. This  is  particularly  the  case  where  the  roads  are  of  great  length,  and  penetrate 
into  fertile  regions  of  country.  The  construction  of  railroads  does  not  relieve  the  pres- 
sure of  produce  upon  the  means  of  transit,  but,  on  the  contrary,  aggravates  the  pres- 
sure. 

The  opening  of  another  and  shorter  canal  eastward  to  the  seaboard,  over  a  line  ex- 
empt from  the  long  suspensions  enforced  further  north  by  winter  ice,  would  produce  a 
similar  development  of  trade  on  the  more  southern  line  ;  and  some  future  statistician 
will  be  able  to  write  of  the  Yirginia  Canal  as  the  Superintendent  of  the  Census  has 
written  of  the  Erie  : 

"  The  opening  of  this  work  was  the  announcement  of  a  new  era  in  the  internal  grain 
trade  of  the  United  States.  To  the  pioneer,  the  agriculturist,  and  the  merchant,  the 
grand  avenue  developed  a  new  world.  From  that  period  do  we  date  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  the  Northwest,  as  well  as  the  development  of  the  internal  grain  trade." 

INADEQUACY  OF  ALL  EXISTING  OUTLETS  FOR  TRANSPORTING  THE  INCREASING  TRADE  OF  THE 

WEST. 

Remarking  upon  the  subject  of  transportation  for  western  trade,  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Census  says  : 

"  It  is  feared  by  many  in  New  York  that  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  would  damage  the  canal  interests  of  the  State  by  diverting  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  grain  trade  of  the  lakes  from  the  Erie  Canal ;  but  when  it  is  considered  that 
the  production  of  grain  in  the  Northwestern  States  increased  from  218,463,583  bushels 
in  1840  to  642,120,366  bushels  in  1860  ;  and  that  of  the  eight  food-producing  States  west 
of  the  lakes,  embracing  an  area  of  262,549,000  acres,  only  about  52,000,000  acres  were 
under  cultivation  in  1860,  and  that  26,000,000  acres  of  that  have  been  broken  since  1850, 
no  fears  need  be  entertained  that  any  of  the  outlets  to  the  ocean  will  be  unoccupied  to 
the  extent  of  their  capacity.  The  only  fear  is,  thdd  we  will  not  keep  pace  with  the  in- 
creased production  by  the  provision  of  increased  facilities  of  transportation.' ' 

Sir  Morton  Peto,  in  his  interesting  and  very  clever  work  on  the  Resources  and  Pros- 
pects of  America,  makes  the  following  truthful  observations : 

"  How  far  is  the  amount  of  tonnage  employed  in  inland  intercourse  in  America  ade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  the  countrj'  ?  In  considering  this  point  we  have  to  regard  the 
very  great  length  over  which  traffic  has  to  be  carried  ;  and  looking  at  those  distances 
no  reasonable  doubt  can  b-e  entertained  that  the  inland  navigation  of  America  is  very 
inadequate  to  the  "'^ants  of  the  people.  It  has  not,  in  fact,  kept  pace  with  the  population 
and  progress  of  the  country ;  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  railroads,  the  great  producing  dis- 
tricts of  the  United  States  would  be  at  a  stand-still  for  want  of  means  of  transport  for 
their  produce.  There  is  a  period  of  the  year  Avhen  the  canals  are  frozen  up.  The  whole 
task  of  conveyance  then  falls  upon  the  railways,  and  the  consequence  is,  not  only  an 
immediate  rise  in  their  rates,  but  absolute  inability  to  conduct  the  traffic.  The  results 
are  often  most  disastrous.  In  one  case  40,000  barrels  of  flour  were  detained  at  Toledo 
(nearly  half-way  between  Chicago  and  New  York)  for  several  months,  in  consequence 
of  want  of  carriage.  A  vast  mass  of  produce  is  yearly  destroyed  from  the  inability  of 
the  carriers  to  forward  it.  The  owners  are  ruined,  and  parties  in  the  Eastern  States, 
who  advance  money  on  this  produce,  charge  excessive  rates  to  cover  the  risks  of  delay. 
The  grain  producers  of  the  Western  States  are  quite  unable  to  find  sufficient  means  of  con- 
veyance for  their  products,  because  the  railroads  from  west  to  east  are  cholced  with  traffic. 
The  existing  railroad  requirements  of  the  West  are,  in  fact,  insufficient.  At  present,  be- 
cause they  cannot  carry  the  produce,  the  whole  traffic  of  the  country  is  subject  to  two 
gigantic  evils,  arising,  first,  from  uncertainty  of  conveyance  ;  and  second,  from  uncer- 
tainty of  charge.  The  present  railways  are  quite  insufficient  for  the  growing  traffic. 
The  lines  of  communication  from  the  West  by  canal,  &c.,  which  existed  previously  to 
railways,  have  not  been  affected  by  their  construction.  The  produce  of  the  Western  States 
has,  in  fact,  increased  faster  than  the  means  of  transport,  and  additional  facilities  for  the 
conveyance  of  goods  are  urgently  required.    It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  devel- 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL.  31 

opraent  of  the  West  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  making  this  additional  provision.  An 
inadequate  railroad  provision  and  a  corresponding  uncertainty  as  to  conveyance  and  de- 
livery of  freights  must  have  the  effect  of  checking  production  in  the  West,  and,  conse- 
quently, of  checking  capital  of  the  East  from  seeking  employment  in  the  West,  Railway 
facilities  are  now  the  measure  of  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 

"Now,  what  is  the  effect  of  this  inadequacy  of  transportation?  The  producer,  the 
merchant,  the  railway  company,  and  the  consumer  are  all  "directly  injured  ;  but  the  in- 
direct injury  extends  far  beyond  those  interests.  The  whole  produce  of  the  West,  and 
consequently  the  entire  cultivation  of  America,  is  affected-  If  the  produce  cannot  be 
carried,  it  can  only  find  local  markets.  If  it  only  finds  local  markets,  prices  must  abate. 
If  prices  abate  the  stimulus  to  the  cultivation  of  land  is  lost.  If 'the  land  is  not  required 
for  cultivation,  in  the  same  proportion  it  necessarily  diminishes  in  value.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  West,  the  value  of  its  produce,  the  value  of  its  land,  and  the  extent  of 
land  cultivated,  all  depend,  therefore,  upon  increased  facilities  for  the  conveyance  of 
produce,  and  those  facilities  canals  and  railroads  must  afford.  The  American  public 
ought  never  to  be  satisfied  until  they  are  able  to  calculate  on  fixed  moderate  prices  for 
freight,  and  fixed  periods  for  its  delivery.  The  future  of  the  West  depends  upon  ample 
means  of  communication  with  the  East ;  and  the  success  of  its  means  of  communication 
with  the  East  is  expressed  in  a  few  words,  '  Prompt  and  economical  delivery,  in  a  fixed 
time  and  at  a  fixed  price.'  " 

Nothing  could  be  more  true  than  these  remarks.  The  talk  of  competition  between 
railroads  and  canals,  between  one  water  line  and  another,  or  one  railroad  line  and 
another,  is  wholly  out  of  place.  When  there  is  more  than  enough  trade  for  all,  it  is  use- 
less to  consider  the  subject  of  competing  interests. 

A  direct  unbroken  line  of  water  transportation  is  urgently  needed  for  the  teeming 
products  of  the  West.  The  necessity  for  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  imperious  every 
year.  How  vast  is  the  country  producing  tonnage,  how  wonderfully  prolific  is  its  pro- 
duction, how  marvelously  rapid  its  increase  ! 

VAST  EXTENT  OF  COUNTRY  TO  BE  DRAINED. 

The  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Yalley  and  lake  country  interested  in  the  opening  of  a 
direct  line  of  transportation  extending  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  to 
the  base  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  is  composed  of  the  following  States  and  Territories,  whose 
area  and  population,  taken  chiefly  from  the  census  of  1860,  are  attached : 


West  Virginia.. 

Kentucky  , 

Tennessee^  

Arkansas  

Ohio  

Indiana  

Illinois  

Michigan  

Wisconsin  

Minnesota ...... 

Iowa  

Missouri  

Kansas  

Nebraska  

Dakota,  (1865). 
Montana,  (1865) 
Colorado  


Total 


In  the  same  geographical  relations  to  trade  and  its  markets,  though  not  belonging  to 
the  same  political  jurisdiction,  is  another  extensive  region  lying  above  our  natural 
boundary  line.  The  Red  River  of  the  North,  and  the  Sascatchawan,  in  Northwest 
British  America,  traverse  a  territory  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  five  hundred  thou- 
sand square  miles  in  extent,  and  capable  of  sustaining  a  population  of  thirty  millions. 
**  In  the  valleys  of  the  Sascatchawan  and  Assiniboine,"  Professor  Hand  estimates  that 

there  are  eleven  millions  of  acres  of  arable  land  of  the  first  quality."  Of  this  region 
about  one-half  is  prairie  and  one-half  is  woodland ;  it  is  the  only  extensive  prairie 


Sq.  miles. 


Population. 


24,000 
37,680 
45,000 
52,198 
39,964 
33,809 
55,409 
56,243 
53,924 
83,531 
55,000 
65,039 
83,000 
70,000 
220,000 
150,000 
104,000 


376,688 
1,155,684 
826,782 
435,450 
2,339,511 
1,350,428 
1,711,951 
769,113 
775,881 
172,023 
674,913 
1,182,012 
107,206 
28,841 
4,837 
20,000 
34,277 


1,228,795 


11,945,597 


32 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


country  open  to  the  Canadas  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  it  is  destined  to  be  the 
Illinois  or  Iowa  of  British  America.  This  is  no  inhospitable  desert,  repugnant  to  the 
increase  of  the  human  race.  Here  is  "a  vast  wedge-shaped  tract  of  country,  extend- 
ing from  47  degrees  to  60  degrees  of  northern  latitude,  10  degrees  of  longitude,  deep  at 
the  base,  containing  500,000  square  miles  of  habitable  land,  subject  to  few  and  incon- 
siderable variations  in  climate.  The  summer  at  Buifalo  is  about  ninety-five  days,  and 
it  is  ninety  days  at  Cumberland  House  on  the  Sascatchawan,  on  54  degrees  north.  The 
annual  mean  temperature  is  only  8  degrees  lower  than  Toronto,  with  17  inches  more  of 
rain  and  33  inches  less  of  snow,  than  at  Toronto.  Herds  of  Buffalo  winter  on  the 
woodland  as  far  north  as  60  degrees  parallel.  Corn  grows  on  both  sides  of  the  Sas- 
catchawan ;  wheat  sown  'in  the  Red  River  Yalley  in  May  is  gathered  in  by  the  end  of 
August. 

The  lake  and  river  systems  of  this  region  are  almost  as  wonderful  as  our  own ;  Lake 
Winnepeg  having  an  area  equal  to  that  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  Lake  Manitohah  nearly  half 
that  of  Winnepeg.  The  distance  from  a  given  point  on  the  westerly  end  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior to  the  navigable  waters  of  Frazer's  River  in  British  Columbia, will  not  exceed  2,000 
miles,  about  twice  the  distance  between  Boston  and  Chicago.  The  westerly  end  of  Lake 
Superior  is  on  the  parallel  of  about  46  degrees,  which  passes  from  the  heart  of  Germany 
through  the  Britisli  Channel,  across  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Lake  Superior,  Yancou- 
ver's  Island,  and  the  rich  and  populous  archipelago  of  Japan. 

The  climate  of  Edmonton  is  milder  in  winter  than  at  St.  Paul.  The  Sascatchawan  is 
clear  of  ice  in  the  spring  as  soon  as  the  Mississippi  is,  between  St.  Anthony  and  Ga- 
lena. Steamboat  navigation,  now  established  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North  to  Fort 
Gerry,  by  Americans,  can  readily  be  extended  through  Lake  Winnepeg,  and  up  the 
Sascatchawan,  to  Fort  Edmonton,  the  supposed  eastern  limit  to  the  new  gold  district. 
This  territory  has  now  a  population  of  about  ten  thousand.  The  valley  of  the  Red  River 
of  the  North  will  make  one  of  the  finest  of  wheat-growing  countries,  the  yield  being 
forty  to  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre.  One  hundred  miles  Cast  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
on  the  Sascatchawan,  is  an  immense  coal  field,  stretching  away  towards  the  Arctic 
Ocean. 

The  trade  of  all  this  region,  equal  in  area  to  ten  States  of  the  size  of  New  York,  will, 
from  necessity,  seek  an  outlet  by  the  Mississippi,  or  Lake  Superior,  or  the  Yirginia  water- 
line.    The  discovery  of  gold  will  ensure  its  early  settlement. 


ITS  PROBABLE  POPULATION. 


Here  is  a  great  region  within  and  bordering  upon  the  United  States,  embracing 
1,750,000  square  miles  of  territory,  becoming  rapidly  populated,  whose  trade  is  to  be 
brought  to  the  seaboard.  The  population  of  the  portion  of  it  which  lies  within  the  United 
States  has  greatly  increased  since  the  census  of  1860,  and  will  continue  to  increase  until 
this  expanded  region,  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  the  world,  shall  contain  inhabitants  ap- 
proximating in  numbers,  per  square  mile,  the  populations  of  other  districts  of  the  earth 
no  more  fertile.  As  indicating  the  actual  density  of  population  in  other  quarters  of  the 
globe,  the  following  table  is  given  : 


Number  of  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile. 


Belgium  

Saxony  

England  and  Wales. 

Netherlands  

Sardinia  

Wurtemburg  

Ireland  

German  States  

France   


397 

353 

307 

250 

225 

210 

205 

199 

176 

Prussia . . 
Bavaria  . 
Austria  . 
Hanover., 
Denmark 
Scotland 
Sweeden 
Norway  . 


159 
156 
142 
123 
114 
92 
21 
13 


Few,  if  any,  of  these  European  States  are  more  fertile  than  the  valleys  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  lakes  ;  many  of  them  are  far  less  fertile.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  reason- 
able to  assume  that  within  another  century  the  population  of  this  region  will  average  one 
hundred  persons  to  the  square  mile,  and  will  reach  the  imposing  aggregate  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  millions  of  inhabitants. 

The  State  of  Illinois  gained  between  1850  and  1860,  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  popu- 
lation. To  show  how  much  room  is  open  for  an  increase  of  population,  one  of  the 
densest  portions  of  the  population  of  the  West,  that  embracing  the  States  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  "numbered,  in  1860,  only  sixteen 
persons  to  the  square  mile.  The  increase  of  population  in  the  entire  Union  during  each 
of  the  last  decades  was  35^  per  cent.    At  a  rate  of  increase  for  the  West  equal  to  only 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


33 


33  per  cent,  (it  will  be  more  than  50,)  the  population  of  the  seventeen  States  and  Ter- 
ritories of  the  West  that  have  been  named  Avill  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions 
by  1940.  But  the  increase  will  be  much  more  rapid.  There  are  persons  now  born  who 
will  live  to  see  it  reach  more  than  that  number. 

But  confining  our  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  present  time,  it  is  important  to  know 
what  amount  of  tonnage  is  now  produced  in  the  States  and  Territories  under  consid- 
eration ;  what  portion  of  this  production  is  necessary  for  consumption,  and  what  part 
might  be  spared  for  market ;  whether  all  that  might  be  spared  does  or  does  not  actually 
go  to  market,  and  if  it  does  not  go,  whether  the  failure  is  due  or  not  to  inadequate 
facilities  of  transport,  and  too  great  a  cost  of  carriage. 


ITS  PRODUCTION  IN  TONS. 

In  1860  the  production  of  that  portion  of  the  West  embraced  in  the  seventeen  States 
and  Territories  entering  into  the  question  under  discussion,  was  as  follows  : 


Articles. 


Quantities  or 
values. 


Wheat,  bushels  

Corn,  bushels  

Rye,  bushels  

Oats,  bushels  

Barley,  bushels  ,  

Buckwheat,  bushels  , 

Beans  and  peas,  bushels  

Irish  potatoes,  bushels  

Sweet  potatoes,  bushels  

Clover  seed,  bushels  

Grass  seed,  bushels  

Flax  seed  bushels  

Butter,  pounds  

Cheese,  pounds  

Wool,  pounds  

Flax,  pounds  

Tobacco,  pounds  

Hops,  pounds  

Maple  sugar,  pounds  

Honey,  pounds  

Beeswax,  pounds  

Hay  

Hemp  

Coal  

Pig  iron  

Copper  

Orchard  produce,  value  

Market-garden  produce,  value. 
Home  manufactures,  value . . . 

Slaughtered  animals,  value  

Lead,  value  

Salt,  value  

Fisheries,  value  

Lumber,  value  

Wine,  gallons  

Maple  molasses,  gallons  

Sorgum  molasses,  gallons  


111,119,374 
527,893,527 
5,568,461 
71,962,329 
5,210,770 
4,286,566 
1,648,538 
39,015,910 
4,981,759 
403,423 
546,170 
337,818 
183,634,188 
28,575,219 
28,267,123 
2,130,823 
222,329,886 
272,892 
12,164,546 
10,857,944 
476,939 


$7,431,517 
83,695,696 
$9,774,577 
$99,837,933 
$915,481 
$3,620,418 
$351,479 
$35,429,729 
975,254 
1,108,772 
5,620,675 


Grand  total, 


Here  is  a  grand  aggregate  of  thirty-three  millions  of  tonnage.  It  is  difficult  to  de- 
termine what  amount  of  this  total  could  be  spared  from  consumption  and  sent  to  mar- 
ket. Some  statisticians  contend  that  a  community  occupying  so  fertile  a  country,  and 
so  situated,  as  that  of  the  great  West,  can  easily  spare  for  ^market  an  amount  of  ton- 
nage equal  to  three-fifths  of  the  total  production ;  which,  in  the  case  of  the  West,  and 
its  production  in  1860,  would  be  twenty  millions  of  tons.    This  estimate  does  not  seem 

5 


34 


JAMES  MVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


excessive  -when  we  find  from  the  foregoing;  statement  that  if  we  deduct  for  home  con- 
sumption a  tonnage  equivalent  to  that  of  all  the  oats,  all  the  hay,  (besides  every  other 
sort  of  fodder,)  all  the  butter  and  cheese,  and  orchard  and  garden  produce,  all  home 
manufactures,  all  the  wine,  molasses,  fish,  clover  and  grass  seeds,  hops,  maple  sugar, 
honey  and  beeswax,  all  the  wool,  flax  and  hemp,  all  the  coal  and  pig  iron,  three-fourths 
of  all  slaughtered  animals,  and  of  the  Irish  and  sweet  potatoes,  peas  and  beans,  five 
pounds  of  tobacco  for  each  inhabitant,  and  six  bushels  of  wheat  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  of  the  population,  there  would  still  be  eighteen  milhons  of  tons  left  to  be  sent 
to  market,  besides  what  live  stock  might  go  off"  on  the  hoof,  by  rail,  or  by  boat.  Such 
was  the  amount  of  tonnage  which  the  West  v/ould  seem  to  have  been  competent  to  send 
to  the  seaboard  in  1860,  if  the  facilities  at  hand  for  carrying  it  to  market  had  been  ade- 
quate in  capacity  to  the  herculean  task,  and  if  the  rates  of  charge  had  been  low  enough 
to  leave  a  profit  to  the  producer. 

WHY  DID  NOT  THIS  TONXAGE  COME  TO  MARKET  ? 

But  these  facilities  were  not  adequate  in  capacity,  nor  were  the  charges  of  transit 
sufficiently  low  to  permit  so  vast  an  eastward  movement  of  tonnage.  In  a  comparative 
sense,  the  actual  movement  of  tonnage  as  late  as  1862,  while  the  stimulus  of  war  prices 
was  active  in  bringing  it  forward,  was  very  meager. 

"  In  1862,"  says  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Commerce  of  Buffalo,  1865, 
"the  surplus  products  of  the  West  sent  eastward  (through  trade)  to  the  tide-water  mar- 
kets, including  products  of  wood,  agriculture,  animals,  manufactures,  and  miscellaneous 
commodities,  Avas  5,176,499  tons.  This  includes  the  eastward  movement  of  through 
freight  over  the  four  great  roads  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Grand  Trunk  and  north- 
ern railways,  and  the  total  exports  from  Buffalo  and  Oswego  by  canal.  If  the  way 
freights  received  at  the  western  terminal  points  of  all  these  railways,  and  delivered  in 
the  interior,  be  added  to  the  through  freight,  it  is  estimated  that  the  total  number  of 
tons  moved  out  of  the  West  during  that  year  exceeded  5,500,000.  Of  the  eastward 
movement  in  1862,  2,086,656  were  sent  from  Buffalo,  and  638,419  tons  from  Oswego, 
making  nearly  50  per  cent,  of  the  total  movement  by  the  New  York  canals,  and  the  re- 
maining portion  by  the  five  through  lines  of  railroad." 

Thus"  it  seems  that  the  great  public  works  of  the  country  already  in  operation  did  not 
attract  from  their  places  of  production,  nor  transport,  one-third  of  the  products  which 
the  West  could  actually  have  spared.  If  the  whole  exportable  production  had  offered 
itself  for  transit,  it  could  not  have  been  carried  ;  and  it  did  not  offer  itself,  because  the 
cost  of  carriage  on  a  vast  proportion  of  the  exportable  products  was  not  low  enough  to 
tempt  them  forward. 

PROBABLE  INCREASE  OF  THIS  TONNAGE. 

Kow,  while  the  number  and  capacity  of  these  works  have  been  very  slightly  aug- 
mented, production  in  the  West  has  grown  apace.  That  this  production  grows  at  about 
an  equal  rate  with  the  population,  is  shown  by  the  following  table  for  the  country  em- 
bracing Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan  : 

Population.  ^^Tusfll^"^'- 

1840   3,340,542  165,698,832 

1850   5,403,595  310,050,295 

I860   8,855,932  556,801,897 

The  decennial  increase  in  these  States,  both  of  population  and  cereal  production, 
exceeded  65  per  cent.  The  actual  exportation  of  the  West  in  1862  slightly  exceeded 
five  millions  of  tons.  Distinguishing  actual  from  possible  exportation,  the  actual 
movement  from  the  West,  if  it  shall  increase  at  equal  pace  with  the  population,  will, 
by  1880,  become  fifteen  milhons.  How  will  this  certain  amount  of  exportable  tonnage 
find  exit  ?  Unless  the  bulk  of  it  go  down  the  Mississippi,  it  will  be  unable  to  reach 
the  sea-board,  without  a  great  increase  in  the  number  and  capacity  of  our  public  works. 
Even  on  the  basis  of  actual  exportations,  a  direct  canal  across  the  shortest  passage  of 
the  Alleghanies  to  the  sea-board  is  evidently  necessary. 

But,  by  1880,  the  exportations  will  be  far  more  than  fifteen  millions  of  tons,  pro 
vided  means  are  provided  for  carrying  away  the  produce.  In  1860,  when  the  popu- 
lation was  twelve  millions,  the  AV^est  could  have  exported  eighteen  millions  of  tons. 
In  the  absence  of  facilities  for  cheap  transportation,  it  actually  did  export  less  than 
five  millions  of  tons.  There  was  a  difference  of  250  per  cent,  between  the  actual  and 
possible  exportation.  At  present  the  western  population  has  reached  eighteen  millions, 
and  it  is  capable  of  exporting  fully  twenty -five  millions  of  tons  of  produce,  if  avenues  of 
transportation  were  accessible,  and  if  freights  were  cheap.  To  bring  out  this  trade  a 
short  line  of  cheap  navigaiion  is  necessary.  Another  canal  on  the  most  direct  central 
route,  with  the  attendant  railroads  that  would  spring  up  near  its  margin,  is  indispensable 
to  the  accommodation  and  development  of  western  trade. 


JAlVtES  RMil  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


35 


COMPARATIVE  VALUE  AND  CAPACITY  OF  CANALS  AND  RAILROADS. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  comparative  merits  of  canals  and  railroads.  "When  the 
discussion  loses  sight  of  distance  and  circumstances,  it  leads  to  no  sound  conclusion. 
The  chief  exports  of  the  West  are  the  bulky  products  of  the  farm,  forest,  and  mine; 
and  it  is  generally  true,  that  beyond  certain  distances,  these  commodities  cannot  afford 
the  cost  of  railroad  transportation.  For  instance,  if  a  cent  and  a  half  a  ton  per  mile 
(which  is  much  below  the  average  charge)  be  assumed  as  the  lowest  price  at  which 
railroads  can  profitably  transport  tonnage  ;  and  if  the  specie  price  of  wheat  in  market 
be  $1  50  per  bushel,  or  $49  50  per  ton  of  thirty-three  bushels  ;  and  if  the  cost  of  grow- 
ing wheat  be  60  cents  per  bushel,  or  $19  80  per  ton,  so  that  the  margin  between  cost 
and  market  value  is  90  cents  per  bushel,  or  $29  70  per  ton  :  then,  making  no  allow- 
ance for  expenses  of  handling,  storage,  commissions  and  the  like,  it  is  clear  that  wheat 
cannot  go  farther  than  1,980  miles  by  railway  without  the  cost  of  carriage  trenching 
upon  the  cost  of  producing. 

Price  per  ton  in  market  $  49  50 

Cost  per  ton  of  growing  the  crop   19  80 


Margin  for  expenses  of  carriage  ,   29  70 

Equal,  at  l)^  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  to  $19  80.  ' 

But,  as  the  cost  of  i)roduclion  varies  in  different  localities,  and  even  on  diflferent 
farms,  and  as  the  price  in  market  varies  almost  weekly,  it  would  not  be  proper  to  con- 
clude either  that  railroads  can  invariably  carry  wheat  as  far  as  1,980  miles,  or  that 
this  is  the  distance  beyond  which  wheat  can  never  be  transported,  in  any  season, 
under  any  state  of  the  markets,  between  any  points.  It  is  generally  true,  that  in  a 
region  so  remote  from  the  sea-board  as  vast  portions  of  the  West,  water  transportation 
is  essential  to  the  purposes  of  farmers,  lumbermen,  and  miners  of  bulky  minerals ; 
while  railroads  suit  best  the  uses  of  manufacturers,  merchants,  and  speculators.  Both 
methods  of  transportation  are  necessary,  each  for  its  appropriate  sort  of  trade,  and  so 
far  from  being  antagonistic,  they  are  mutually  assistant  and  beneficial.  Cherp  navi- 
gation  develops  production  in  the  first  instance  ;  and  then  commerce  and  art  demand 
the  assistance  of  railroads  for  their  more  rapid  operations. 

The  respective  distances  for  which  canals,  railroads,  and  ordinary  highways  com- 
mand trade  is  approximately  exhibited  by  the  following  table.  It  takes  no  account  of 
charges  other  than  for  freight ;  and  is  made  out  for  wheat  at  $1  50  per  bushel,  or 
S49  50  per  ton,  and  corn  at  75  cents  per  bushel,  or  824  75  per  ton  of  33  bushels.  It 
assumes  the  cost  of  carriage  at  5  mills  per  ton  per  mile  on  canals,  15  mills  on  railroads, 
and  15  cents  on  ordinary  highways  : 

Statement  showing  the  value  of  a  ton  of  wheat  and  one  of  corn  at  given  distances  from 
market,  as  affected  by  cost  of  transportation  respectively  by  canal,  by  railroad,  and 
over  the  ordinary  highway : 


Canal  carriage. 

Kailway  carriage. 

Common  road 
carriage. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

$49  50 

$24  75 

$49  50 

$24  75 

$49  50 

$24  76 

49  45 

24  70 

49  35 

24  60 

48  00 

23  25 

49  40 

24  65 

49  20 

24  45 

46  50 

21  75 

49  35 

24  60 

49  05 

24  3n 

45  00 

20  25 

49  30 

24  55 

48  90 

24  15 

43  50 

18  75 

Value  50  miles  from  market  

49  26 

24  60 

48  75 

24  00 

42  00 

17  25 

49  20 

24  45 

'^S  61) 

23  .-5 

40  .50 

15  75 

49  15 

24  40 

4S  45 

23  7  ' 

39  00 

14  75 

Vulne  SO  miies  from  market  

49  10 

24  35 

48  30 

23  55 

37  50 

14  25 

48  05 

24  30 

48  15 

23  40 

36  00 

11  25 

48  00 

24  25 

48  00 

23  25 

34  50 

9  75 

47  S5 

24  20 

47  S5 

23  10 

33  00 

'  8  25 

47  90 

24  15 

47  70 

2-  95 

31  50 

"6  75 

47  85 

24  JO 

47  55 

22  80 

30  OO 

lb  25 

47  SO 

21  05 

47  40 

22  65 

28  50 

i  3  75 

Value  150  mile;^  from  market  

47  75 

24  00 

47  25 

•22  50 

27  00 

2  25 

47  70 

23  95 

47  10 

22  35 

25  50 

75 

47  65 

23  90 

46  95 

22  2() 

24  00 

46  90 

23  20 

44  70 

19  95 

1  50 

46  85 

2J  15 

44  55 

19  SO 

40  80 

23  10 

44  40 

19  65 

46  75 

23  t5 

44  25 

19  50 

Value  1,000  miles  from  market  

44  50 

19  75 

34  50 

9  75 

41  •-'5 

16  50 

24  75 

39  60 
::3  00 
24  75 

14  85 
8  25 

19  80 

 1   

Value  5,940  miles  froia  market  

19  bO 



Value  9,900  miles  from  market  

1 

36 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


The  table  is  merely  theoretical.  Of  course  the  charges  on  produce,  other  than  for 
carriage  proper,  would  materially  curtail  the  distances  indicated  by  it.  The  exhibit  is 
valuable,  however,  as  showing,  by  contrast,  for  how  much  greater  distances  navigation 
commands  trade  than  overland  methods  of  transit.  At  330  miles  the  cost  of  carriage 
on  common  roads  consumes  the  whole  value  of  wheat,  leaving  nothing  at  all  for  the 
farmer.  At  1,980  miles  the  freight  on  railroads  leaves  but  60  cents  per  bushel  ($  19  80 
per  ton)  for  the  grower  ;  and  at  3,300  miles  sweeps  olF  the  total  value.  But  on  canals^ 
the  cost  of  carriage  does  not  trench  upon  the  cost  for  production  (of  60  cents  per 
bushel)  until  the  wheat  has  been  carried  5,940  miles ;  nor  is  the  value  wholly  exhausted 
within  a  distance  of  9,900  miles. 

Thus,  the  question  involved  in  this  comparison  is  very  far  from  being  one  of  mere 
percentage.  The  railroad  charges  become  prohibitory  within  actual  practical  distances 
from  the  seaboard ;  and  it  then  becomes  a  question  with  the  interior  producer  between 
water  transportation  and  no  transportation  at  all.  If  no  cheap  navigation  is  available, 
the  crops  of  the  far  interior  must  rot  in  the  fields  and  the  minerals  must  remain  indefi- 
nitely emboweled  in  the  earth. 

It  is  very  far  from  being  the  fact,  therefore,  that,  in  a  country  of  such  vast  extent  as 
ours,  railroads  have  superseded  or  can  supersede  canals.  In  a  small  islandlike  Great 
Britain  they  may  do  so ;  but  not  on  this  spacious  continent.  Here,  canals  have  not 
ceased,  and  they  cannot  cease,  to  be  of  essential  importance  to  the  great  producing 
classes  of  the  far  interior. 

GROWTH  OF  THE  WESTERN  GRAIN  TRADE. — ITS  EFFECT  UPON  OUR  FOREIGN  EXPORTS  OF 
BREADSTUFFS. — NATURAL  PREFERENCE  OF  THIS  TRADE  AMONG  LINES  OF  OUTLET  TO  THE 
SEABOARD. 

Forty  years  ago  the  surplus  products  of  Ohio  had  accumulated  beyond  the  means  of 
transport,  and  wheat  sold  in  the  interior  at  37  cents  per  bushel,  and  Indian  corn  at  10 
cents.  Then  the  Erie  Canal  was  opened,  and  soon  after  the  Ohio  canals,  and  prices 
were  raised  more  than  50  per  cent.  Now  that  the  means  of  transport  have  been 
increased,  the  price  of  flour  at  Cincinnati  is  nearly  double  the  price  in  1826,  the  price 
of  Indian  corn  is  four  times,  and  the  price  of  pork  three  times  as  great.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  prices  of  grain  and  meat  on  the  seaboard  have  not  been  reduced  in  the  least. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  bulk  of  the  gain  obtained  by  the  increased  facility  of 
transport  has  gone  to  the  producer. 

Not  only  has  the  transport  of  produce  been  cheapened,  but  also  the  cost  of  the  trans- 
port of  every  article  of  manufacture  required  by  the  producer.  Machinery  and  articles 
of  foreign  growth  have  been  supplied  him  at  almost  seaboard  prices.  Sugar  and  cofiee 
were  no  dearer  at  Cincinnati  in  1860  than  in  1835,  although  the  population  of  the 
Western  States  in  that  interval  had  increased  in  enormous  proportions. 

Prior  to  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  only  outlet  to  the  ocean  from  the  north- 
western territory  was  by  the  river  Mississippi.  During  the  progress  of  the  Erie  Canal 
it  was  predicted  that  "it  would  never  pay,"  for  that  the  trade  would  follow  the 
rivers,  and  was  not  likely  to  be  diverted  across  the  continent.  It  has  turned  out,  how- 
ever, that  the  artificial  channels  of  trade,  the  canals  and  railroads,  have  completely 
diverted  the  course  of  the  traffic  as  to  a  very  large  section  of  the  West.  There  are 
various  causes  for  this,.  The  principal,  no  doubt,  is  the  increase  of  the  grain-consuming 
population  in  the  States  of  the  Atlantic.  Other  causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  uncer- 
tainty of  river  navigation  during  the  summer  months,  the  greater  speed  and  security 
of  transport  by  railway,  the  superior  advantages  of  New  York  to  New  Orleans  as  a 
place  of  trade,  and  the  greater  risk  of  damage  to  grain  and  flour  by  "heating"  in  the 
southern  latitudes  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Thus  it  results  that  New  Orleans  has  not 
become  a  leading  shipping  port  for  grain,  although  her  trade  in  cotton,  sugar,  and 
tobacco,  has  largely  increased. 

Much  has  also  been  due  to  the  energy  of  the  North  ;  and  the  graphically  expressed 
complaint  of  Professor  De  Bow  was  well  grounded  when  he  declared,  that  "the  bold, 
vigorous,  and  sustained  effort  of  the  North  has  succeeded  in  reversing  the  very  law  of 
nature's  God,  rolled  back  the  tide  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  ten  thousand  tributary 
streams,  until  their  mouths,  practically  and  commercially,  are  more  at  New  York  than 
at  New  Orleans." 

The  first  shipments  of  grain  on  the  lakes,  of  which  there  is  any  record,  were  made  in 
the  year  1836,  when  the  brig  John  H.  McKenzie  shipped  at  Grand  Haven,  Michigan, 
3,000  bushels  of  wheat  for  the  port  of  Buffalo. 

The  first  shipment  of  grain  from  Chicago,  consisting  of  78  bushels  of  wheat  in  39 
sacks,  was  made  in  1838.  The  first  shipments  from  the  State  of  Wisconsin  were  made 
three  years  later,  in  1841.  These  shipments  consisted  of  about  4,000  bushels  of  wheat 
purchased  at  Milwaukee  on  Canadian  account. 

In  1848  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  was  completed,  opening  up  another  great 
field  of  cultivation  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  1849  the  era  of  railroad  communication 
was  inaugurated  by  the  opening  of  the  Chicago  and  Galena  Union  Railroad,  traversing 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL* 


3'7 


a  widely-cultivated  district.  This  line  of  railroad  led  to  a  great  and  rapid  development 
of  the  country  which  it  traversed.  In  1863  nearly  eleven  and  a  half  million  bushels  of 
grain  were  carried  over  this  line.  These  large  shipments  of  grain  to  the  seaboard  soon 
began  to  excite  an  export  movement. 

The  growth  of  the  grain  trade  of  the  lakes  is  illustrated  by  the  following  table  of 

Shipments  eastward  from  Michigan  ports : 


Year. 

Bushels. 

1858  

27,879,293 
25,829,753 
43,211,448 

1859  

1860  

1861 
1862 
1863 


Year. 

Bushels. 

69,489,113 
78,214,675 
74,710,664 

Such  a  record  of  progress  is  probably  unparalleled.  The  production  of  grain  in  the 
Northwestern  States  is  estimated  to  have  increased  from  218,463,583  bushels  in  1840  to 
642,120,366  bushels  in  1860. 

Thus  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1825,  which  placed  the  Hudson  River  in  com 
munication  with  Lake  Erie,  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  the  trade  of  the  United  States, 
The  shores  of  the  great  lakes  were  brought  by  this  line  of  communication  into  connec- 
tion with  the  Atlantic  by  a  navigable  water-course  through  the  entire  State  of  New 
York.  This  grand  avenue  did,  indeed,  "  develope  a  new  world  to  the  pioneer,  the  agri- 
culturist, and  the  merchant." 

The  following  official  table  shows  the  ratio  of  increase  in  the  value  of  the  grain  ex- 
ported from  the  United  States,  for  a  period  of  40  years  : 


1823  to  1833 
1833  to  1843 
1843  to  1853 
1853  to  1863 


Years. 

Aggregate  value  of 
exports  of  grain. 

$67,482,211 
73,303,440 
198,594,871 
512,380,514 

Percentage  of 
increase. 


8.0 
170.8 
158.0 


EUROPE  BEGINS  TO  RELY  CHfEFLY  ON  AMERICA  FOR  GRAIN. 

The  repeal  of  the  corn  laws  of  Great  Britain  in  1846  gave  the  greatest  encouragement 
to  the  exportation  of  American  grain.  During  the  years  1862  and  1863  the  total  exports 
of  grain,  flour,  and  meal  from  the  United  States  were  of  greater  value,  in  either  year, 
than  the  aggregate  value  of  the  whole  grain  trade  of  the  Union  for  the  ten  years  from 
1833  to  1843  : 


Year. 

Bushels. 

Value. 

1862  

76,309,425 
77,396,782 

$83,692,812 
88,597,064 

1863  

The  years  during  which  this  very  great  supply  of  food  was  exported  were,  it  should 
be  remembered,  years  of  civil  war.  Of  the  total  amount  of  the  exports,  nearly  two- 
thirds  were  shipped  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  The  proportion  sent  there  is  repre- 
sented as  follows : 


Year. 

Bushels. 

Value. 

1862   

34,102,735 
47,082,026 

$47,916,206 
56,059,360 

1863   

38 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


The  supply  of  wheat  from  the  United  States  to  England  and  Ireland  during  the  years 
1861,  1862,  and  1863,  was  estimated  to  amount  to  37|  per  cent,  of  their  whole  import.  Of 
the  imports  of  flour  into  Great  Britain,  58.3  per  cent,  were  from  the  United  States. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  tlie  Mark  Lane  Express,  a  paper  of  authority  on  agricultural 
matters,  that  the  average  consumption  of  wheat  in  Great  Britain  is  six  bushels  per  head 
per  annum  ;  a.nd  as  the  population  amounts,  in  round  numbers,  to  thirty  millions,  this 
gives  a  total  annual  consumption  of  180,000,000  bushels,  and  indicates  the  importance  of 
Great  Britain  as  a  customer  of  our  Western  States.  The  exportations  of  wheat  from 
Eastern  Europe  to  its  western  populations  having  reached  their  maximum  magnitude, 
and  being  henceforth  destined  to  decline,  while  the  western  European  populations  are 
steadily  increasing,  the  dependence  of  the  latter  upon  American  grain  is  becoming  more 
and  more  absolute,  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  becoming  more  and  more  emphatically 
"the  granary  of  Europe."  The  rapid  growth  of  our  foreign  exportations  of  grain  will 
require,  more  and  more  imperatively,  the  opening  of  a  direct  water-line  of  navigation, 
from  the  central  west  to  the  seaboard,  over  the  shortest  possible  line. 

Western  exportations  are  even  at  present  much  restricted  on  account  of  insufficient 
facilities  of  cheap  transportation,  and  this  restriction  directly  affects  the  foreign  pro- 
duce exportations  of  the  Union.  Since  the  great  loss  which  the  export  trade  of  the 
United  States  has  sustained  from  the  decline  of  Southern  production,  it  has  become 
doubly  important  to  the  national  prosperity  that  its  exports  of  western  produce  should 
be  increased  by  every  possible  means.  The  nation  must  look  chiefly  to  the  free  labor 
of  the  West  for  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  it  has  incurred  by  emancipation.  That 
is  the  only  source  from  which  compensation  can  come  in  the  form  of  exportations. 
These  can  be  indefinitely  enhanced  by  multiplying  the  channels  of  cheap  transportation 
from  the  interior  to  the  seaboard  ;  and,  of  all  such  channels  which  can  be  possibly  de- 
vised, none  offers  so  many  advantages  as  the  Virginia  water-line. 

CHEAP  TRANSPORTATION  MAKES  WESTERN  TRADE  PREFER  THE  WATER  OUTLETS. 

Notwithstanding  the  strong  tendency  of  western  produce  to  seek  markets  by  direct 
eastward  routes,  it  is  still  diverted  to  the  circuitous  northern  or  southern  water  lines 
by  the  cheapness  of  water  transportation  and  dearness  of  railroad  carriage.  This  strong 
tendency  of  trade  to  pursue  the  shortest  route  eastward  to  market  has  for  forty  years 
given  the  lake  and  Erie  route  a  great  advantage  over  that  by  way  of  New  Orleans. 
These  two  routes  are  subject  to  equivalent  disadvantages ;  that  by  way  of  New  Orleans 
to  the  damaging  eflbct  of  excessive  heat  during  the  summer  months  upon  produce, 
and  that  by  way  of  the  lake  to  obstruction  by  ice  in  the  winter.  These  disadvan- 
tages being  nearly  equivalent,  the  northern  route  secures  more  trade  by  reason  of 
its  being  much  shorter.  If  the  direct  railroads  were  liable  to  five  months  of  obstruc- 
tion in  their  operations  they  would  fail  to  secure  any  considerable  proportion  of  through 
trade,  and  would  be  unable  to  carry  through  produce  at  prices  which  it  could  afford  to 

pay. 

WESTERN  TRADE  PREFERS  THE  SHORTER  NORTHERN  WATER  OUTLET  TO  THE  LONGER  SOUTH- 
ERN ONE. 

The  advantage  which  its  comparative  shortness  gives  to  the  lake  route  over  that  of 
the  Gulf  is  exhibited  by  the  statistics  of  the  eastward  movement  of  produce  from  the 
West,  some  of  which  are  now  given. 

Andrew's  report  on  "Colonial  and  Lake  Trade"  gives  the  eastward  movement  of 
tonnage  in  1851  as  follows  : 


By  New  York  canals . . . 
By  New  York  railroads 
By  St.  Lawrence  River 
By  Mississippi  River. . . 


Tons. 


1,977,151 
228,107 
329,631 

1,292,670 


It  seems  that  more  tons  went  by  the  canals,  but  more  value  by  the  Mississippi,  owing 
to  the  difference  in  price  between  farm  produce  and  cotton. 

The  same  authority  gives  a  table  of  the  value  of  property  received  at  the  seaboard 
by  way  of  the  Hudson  and  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  for  the  ten  years  ending  with  1851. 
The  totals  for  the  ten  years  were  as  follows  : 

By  way  of  the  Hudson  $484,924,474 

By  way  of  the  Mississippi   857,658,164 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


39 


Here,  too,  although  the  value  of  the  movement  by  the  Mississippi  vras  85  per  cent, 
greater,  the  avoirdupois  tonnage  was  but  half  that  which  went  out  by  the  canals. 

The  following  were  the  shipments  (not  receipts)  of  flour,  wheat,  and  corn  from  Chi- 
cago eastward  in  the  years  designated  : 


Shipments  from  Chicago. 

Years. 

Wheat  and 
flour. 

Bushels. 

9,419.865 
10.783,292 
10.909,243 
10,759,359 
15,892,857 

1860  

Corn. 


Bushels. 
11.129.668 

6,814.615 
7,493.212 
4.217,654 
13,700.113 


The  shipments  from  ?>Iilwaukee  and  other  lake  ports  eastward  were  proportionally 
large.  Contrast  with  the  shipments  from  Chicago  alone,  as  above  stated,  the  following 
table  of  shipments  from  New  Orleans  during  the  same  period. 

Shipments  from  Xew  Orleans. 


Years. 

Flour. 

Barrels. 
251,501 
428,436 
474,906 
133,193 
80,541 

Wheat. 


Bushels. 
1,096.733 
1,353.480 
596,442 
107,031 
2,189 


Corn. 


Bushels. 
2.941,711 
1,034,402 
1,134,147 
111,522 
224,382 


The  foregoing  table  shows  not  only  how  small  a  proportion  of  Western  grain  and 
flour  sought  a  market  by  way  of  the  channel  of  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  New  Or- 
leans, but  that  this  proportion  was  yearly  and  rapidly  diminishing  before  the  war. 
The  natural  tendency  of  these  products  is  eastward,  across  the  continent,  on  routes  as 
near  as  possible  to  the  same  parallels  of  latitude  as  those  on  which  they  are  grown. 
This  tendency  of  trade  is  pointedly  shown  by  the  following  tables,  for  four  years  of — 

Shipments  from  Cincinnati. 


Articles. 

1857  and  1858. 

1858  and  1859. 

! 

Shipped  north.  Shipped  south. 

Shipped  north. 

Shipped  south. 

445,650 
601.214 
17.225 

162,565 
30,446 
1,927 

544,570 
270,531 
24,796 

17.569 
1,182 
3,707 

1859  and  1860. 

1860  and  1861. 

385,389 
310,154 

92,919 
11,341 

263,033 
477,264 

158,592 
47,801 

The  bulk  of  this  trade  took  the  line  of  the  lakes.  Thus  strongly  does  the  trade 
of  the  West  itself  apeal  for  a  direct  water-line  along  the  shortest  route  to  the  seaboard. 


40 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  EIVER  AND  GULP  BOUTE. 

Any  reflecting  mind  would  have  concluded  in  1820,  when  the  success  of  steamboat 
navigation  had  been  fully  demonstrated  on  Western  waters,  that  the  course  of  "Western 
trade  was  thereby  determined  ;  that  it  would  never  seek  artificial  lines  of  transportation 
where  steam  navigation  could  be  applied,  but  would  assuredly  prefer  the  course  of  the 
Mississippi  River  to  New  Orleans  and  a  market.  But  no  sooner  was  the  Erie  Canal 
opened  in  1825  than  produce  from  the  region  of  the  Mississippi  began  to  seek  that  route 
to  the  seaboard.  From  the  country  in  the  region  of  the  Lakes  the  new  route  had  the 
advantage  of  being  much  shorter  and  more  direct.  From  the  country  bordering  upon 
the  Ohio  River  other  considerations  gave  trade  a  northeastward  direction  toward  the 
•  canal. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  almost  every  article  of  up-country  produce  is  liable  to  un- 
dergo a  sweating,  souring,  and  heating  process  from  the  warmth  and  humidity  of  the 
climate  of  the  Gulf.  The  loss  in  value  from  this  deteriorating  cause  is  sometimes  very 
serious,  and  always  greater  or  less,  being  variously  estimated  at  from  5  to  25  per  cent, 
on  the  value  of  produce,  except  when  the  transit  is  made  in  the  winter  months.  Assuming, 
however,  that  the  average  deterioration  amounts  only  to  5  per  cent,  on  bacon,  lard, 
butter,  tobacco,  and  10  per  cent,  on  wheat  and  flour,  we  have  an  average  loss  of  $7  50 
per  ton  on  the  former  class  of  articles,  and  of  $5  per  ton  on  the  latter ;  a  sum  which  is 
sufficient  to  give  the  control  of  this  trade  for  most  of  the  year  to  northern  routes.  The 
addition  of  these  items  to  the  comparative  estimates  of  cost  of  transportation  by  various 
routes,  given  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Lorraine  and  the  memorial  of  the  Iowa  Legislature, 
would  make  a  still  greater  difference  in  favor  of  the  Virginia  route  over  that  by  way  of 
the  Gulf. 

Besides  the  objection  of  climate  there  are  dangers  in  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, from  snags  and  other  casualties.  During  the  last  twenty-five  years  much  has 
been  done  to  relieve  this  evil,  but  the  high  rates  of  river -steamboat  insurance  still  at- 
test the  magnitude  of  the  dangers  attending  the  navigation  of  the  river.  Mr.  Barrow, 
in  a  report  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1843,  stated  the  amount  of  the  losses 
on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  from  snags  alone,  at  a  million  of  dollars  per 
annum. 

The  navigation  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  subject  to  the  sudden  storms  and  hurricanes 
incident  to  the  West  India  climate.  In  his  speech  at  the  Memphis  convention,  in  1845, 
Mr.  Calhoun  said  on  this  subject :  "  With  all  the  advantages  possessed  by  the  coasting 
trade  between  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic,  be  it  ever  so  well  secured  against  interruption, 
there  is  one  great  objection  to  which  it  is  liable.  The  peninsula  of  Florida  projects  far 
south,  which  makes  the  voyage  from  New  Orleans  and  the  other  ports  of  the  Gulf  to  the 
Southern  Atlantic  cities  not  only  long  and  tedious,  but  liable  to  frequent  and  great  acci- 
dents in  its  navigation.  A  voyage  from  this  place,  (Memphis,)  for  instance,  to  Charles- 
ton would  be  a  distance  of  certainly  not  less  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  and 
is  subject  to  as  great  losses  as  any  voyage  of  equal  extent  in  any  part  of  the  world.  It 
was  estimated  some  dozen  years  since  that  the  actual  loss  between  Cuba,  the  Bahama 
Islands  and  Florida  was  not  less  than  half  a  million  of  dollars  a  year,  and  it  may  now, 
with  the  great  increase  of  our  commerce,  be  put  at  not  less  than  a  million."  These 
dangers,  coupled  with  those  incident  to  the  navigation ,  of  the  boisterous  coast  of  the 
Carolinas,  and  combined  with  the  great  length  of  the  voyage  from  St.  Louis  to  New 
York  of  four  thousand  miles,  make  up  a  most  imposing  and  formidable  array  of  objec- 
tions to  the  river,  Gulf  and  seaboard  route. 

The  far-seeing  mind  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  perceived  the  effect  of  these  objections 
as  early  as  1812.  In  his  report  in  advocacy  of  the  Virginia  canal  line,  that  eminent 
man  said:  "The  whole  of  tha.t  extensive  and  fertile  country,  [the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, ]  a  country  increasing  in  wealth  and  population  with  a  rapidity  which  baffles  cal- 
culation, must  make  its  importations  up  the  Mississippi  alone,  or  through  the  Atlantic 
States.  When  we  take  into  view  the  certain  growth  of  the  country,  we  can  scarcely  sup- 
pose it  possible  that  any  commercial  city  on  the  banks  of  that  river,  [near  its  mouth*] 
can  keep  pace  with  that  growth  and  furnish  a  supply  equal  to  the  demand.  The  un- 
friendliness of  the  climate  to  human  life  will  render  this  disparity  between  the  commer- 
cial and  agricultural  capital  still  more  sensible.  It  will  tend  still  more  to  retard  a  popu- 
lation of  that  sound  commercial  character  which  would  render  some  great  city  on  that 
majestic  river  a  safe  emporium  for  the  western  world." 

In  answer  to  inquiries  addressed  by  Mr.  Cabell,  former  president  of  the  Virginia  ca- 
nal, to  eminent  merchants  largely  engaged  in  trade,  both  in  Richmond  and  New  Orleans, 
he  received  the  following  replies.  Several  persons  united  in  saying  that  if  the  Virginia 
line  should  bring  trade  from  the  west  to  tide-water  at  two  cents  per  ton  per  mile, 
(which  is  quadruple  the  charge  at  which  it  will  be  brought,)  it  was  their  opinion 
"  that  the  following  articles  would  pay  all  the  expenses  of  transportation  and  net  the 


*  The  context  shows  that  he  referred  to  an  importing  city  near  the  seaboard. 


JAMES  RIYIB  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


41 


grower  more  in  Richmond  than  if  taken  to  New  Orleans  free  of  charge  ;  say  tobacco, 
flour,  pork,  bacon,  lard,  butter,  cheese,  &c.,  for  the  following  reasons  : 

"Independent  of  the  freight  down  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  these  articles  are  all 
materially  injured,  by  passing  through  a  warm  and  humid  climate  ;  at  New  Orleans  they 
have  to  pay  exorbitant  rates  of  drayage,  storage,  fire  insurance,  and  commission,  and 
when  shipQed  from  thence  to  other  markets,  are  subject  to  a  rate  of  freight  at  times  50 
per  cent,  higher  than  from  the  James  River."  General  Steenbergen,  an  eminent  man 
of  business  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  wrote,  that  "  every  avenue  from  the  Ohio  to  the  eastern 
cities  at  all  practicable,  and  at  prices  of  transportation  that  can  possibly  be  borne  by 
shipper,  is  used  in  preference  to  the  New  Orleans  route.  It  will  always  be  the  case. 
The  climate  and  dangers  of  the  one,  against  the  certainty  and  even  high  prices  of  the 
other,  will  make  the  inland  passage  a  favorite  one." 

Of  late  years  the  costruction  at  St.  Louis  and  other  points  of  great  stationary  steam 
elevators  for  transferring  grain  from  boat  to  boat,  and  the  employment  of  floating  steam 
machinery  for  performing  the  same  office  from  boat  toboat  while  in  motion,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  barges  towed  in  fleets  by  steam  tow-boats,  for  the  old  plan  of  carrying  the 
freight  on  the  steamboat,  has  restored  to  water  transportation  an  undisputed  superiority 
over  railroad  carriage,  and  greatly  diminished  the  objections  which  formerly  existed  to 
the  route  by  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  the  Gulf.  But  the  injurious  eSects  of  the  semi- 
tropical  climate  upon  the  agricultural  produce,  the  great  length  of  the  circuitous  Gulf 
route,  and  the  dangers  of  the  Gulf  and  coast  navigation,  still  constitute  enduring  objec- 
tions to  that  route. 

DEFECTS  OF  THE  ST.  LAWBEXCE  ROUTE. 

The  outlet  of  the  St.  Lawrence  into  the  ocean  is  not  less  than  1,000  miles  northeast 
from  Lake  Ontario,  about  700  miles  of  the  line  consisting  of  the  river  itself,  and  300 
miles  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  into  which  it  falls.  As  to  its  natural  features,  this 
line  of  navigation,  in  both  of  its  divisions,  was  accurately  described  in  183S  by  an  emi- 
nent English  engineer  and  traveler,  Mr,  Stevenson,  who  had  made  a  professional  tour  of 
observation  in  the  L'nited  States  and  British  America.    Mr.  Stevenson  says  of  this  river  : 

"  Receiving  the  whole  surplus  waters  of  the  North  American  Lakes,  and  the  drainage 
of  a  great  tract  of  country  traversed  by  the  numerous  streams  which  join  it  in  its  course 
to  the  ocean,  the  St.  Lawrence,  as  regards  the  quantity  of  its  discharge,  presents 
abundant  advantages  for  safe  and  easy  navigation.  The  stream  of  the  upper-  part  of 
this  river,  however,  is  much  distorted  by  numerous  expansions  and  contractions  of  its 
banks,  and  also  by  declivities  or  falls  in  its  bed,  and  clusters  of  small  islands,  which 
render  its  navigation  exceedingly  dangerous,  and  in  some  places  wholly  impracticable 
for  all  sorts  of  vessels  excepting  the  Canadian  batteaux,  which  are  stong,  flat-bot- 
tomed boats,  built  expressly  for  its  navigation.  In  several  parts  of  its  course  the  river 
expands  into  extensive  lakes  ;  and  in  its  waters,  which  are  thus  distributed  over  a 
great  surface,  numerous  shoals  occur,  among  which  the  ship-channel  is  generally  tor- 
tuous aud  narrow,  and  only  navigable  in  daylight.  In  some  places  again  the  St.  Law- 
rence forces  its  way  between  high  banks  which  encroach  on  its  bed,  and  leave  a  com- 
paratively narrow  gullet  for  its  passage  ;  and  in  others  it  flows  over  a  steep,  rugged 
bottom.  These  sttdden  contractions  and  declivities  interrupt  the  peaceful  flow  of  the 
stream,  and  produce  "  chutes,"  as  they  are  called,  or  rapids,  some  of  which  are  wholly 
impassable  for  vessels  of  large  size,  and  others  can  only  be  navigated  in  certain  states 
of  the  tide.  The  islands,  which  occur  chiefly  on  the  upper  part  of  the  river  between 
Montreal  and  Lake  Ontario,  also  disturb  the  channel,  and  give  rise  to  rapids  which  are 
no  less  detrimental  in  a  commercial  point  of  view." — Szevenson's  Civil  Engineering  in 
Arnti'ica. 

The  navigation  of  the  river  is  further  embarrassed  by  the  general  and  strong  current 
of  the  river,  against  which  ascending  vessels  can  make  their  way  only  by  the  aid  of  steam 
tow-boats  of  the  most  powerful  description  to  be  foimd  in  any  of  the  American  waters. 
Since  Mr.  Stevenson  wrote,  the  rapids  and  shallows  of  the  river  have  been  flanked  by 
canals,  and  the  falls  of  the  Niagara  River  have  been  lapped  by  the  "VYelland  Canal— all 
on  the  British  side.    The  dimensions  of  these  Canadian  canals  are  as  follows  : 


Length.    Depth.  I  Size  of  locks.  |  Lift.  :  f^l]^^ 


Miles. 

Lachine  8M  :        10  i    200  by  45     \    44 »4  6 


Eeaubamais  i  WH.  ;  10  ;  200  by  45  1  82)^1  d 

Cornwall  !  IIH  10  i  200  bv  45  I  4S    j  7 

Farraad's  Point                                                       *)              |  f  10  !  200  by  45  i  4  1 

Eapid  Plat                                                            [            '  J  '  200  by  45  |  ll^j  t 


Point  Iroquois                                                          f  i  i      10  I    200  by  45           6  1 

3's                                                         ....  J  i  I      10  I    200  by  45           S    I  2 

nd   28  I        10  1    I50by26}6  \  330    ;  27 

Total  i           69  '  '  '  fs?,AM  '  54 


Depth. 

Size  of  locks. 

Lift. 

Feet. 

Ftet. 

Feet. 

10 

200  bv  45 

,    44 '4 

10 

200  by  45 

1  S-2}4 

10 

200  bv  45 

;  4S 

r  10 

200  by  45 

,  4 

1  10 

200  by  45 

!  11« 

1  ^0 

200  by  45 

6 

I  10 

200  by  45 

10 

150  by  26H 

330 

42 


JAMES  mVER  AND  KAKAWHA  CANAL. 


The  St.  LaTvrence  canals  can  pass  vessels  of  800  tons.  The  Welland  canal  can  pass 
vessels  of  400  tons.  These  canals  connect  the  lower  river  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  with 
the  chain  of  the  great  Lakes. 

•  Of  the  Gnlf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Mr.  Stevenson  gives  the  following  description : 

"  The  navigation  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  through  which  the  river  discharges 
itself  into  the  Atlantic,  is  very  hazardous.  In  addition  to  the  dangers  arising  from  the 
masses  of  ice  which  are  constantly  to  be  met  with  for  nearly  one-half  of  the  year,  it  is 
subject  to  dense  and  impenetrable  fogs,  and  its  rocky  shores  and  desolate  islands,  afford 
neither  comfort  nor  shelter  to  the  shipwrecked  mariner.  One  of  the  most  desolate  and 
dail|erous  of  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  is  Anticosti,  which  lies  exactly  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  is  surrounded  by  reefs  of  rocks,  and  shoal  water.  Two  light- 
houses have  been  erected  on  it,  and  also  four  houses  of  shelter,  containing  large  stores 
of  provisions,  for  the  use  of  those  who  have  the  misfortune  to  be  shipwrecked  on  its  in- 
hospitable shores." 

In  a  memorial  of  citizens  of  New  York,  written  by  De  TTitt  Clinton  in  1816,  addressed 
to  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  in  advocacy  of  the  Erie  Canal,  it  is  stated  that  "the  St. 
Lawrence  is  generally  locktid  by  ice  seven  months  in  the  year,  during  which  time  prod- 
uce lies  a  dead  weight  on  the  hands  of  the  owner."  But  Mr.  Stevenson  seems  to  imply 
a  shorter  duration  of  the  period  of  frost  by  remarking  that  it  continues  "  for  the  space 
of  at  least  five  months  in  the  year ;"  going*^  on  further  to  say  :  "  The  rigor  of  a  Canadian 
winter,  covering  the  face  of  the  country  with  snow,  and  congealing  every  river,  lake  and 
harbor,  produces  a  stagnation  in  trade  which  cannot  fail  to  have  a  bad  effect  on  the  coun- 
try and  the  habits  of  the  people,  who  are  compelled  to  complete  their  whole  business 
transactions  during  the  summer  and  autumn  months,  and  remain  in  a  state  of  compara- 
tive indolence  during  the  remainder  of  the  year." 

BRITISH  PROJECTS  IN  CANADA. 

These  difficulties  attending  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Gulf,  make 
that  route  a  feeble  competitor  for  the  trade  of  the  great  "West.  Yet  British  enterprise 
and  capital  seem  determined  to  overcome  the  disadvantages  imposed  by  nature.  Not  to 
speak  of  stupendous  railroads  constructed  from  the  Upper  Lakes  to  points  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  from  which  they  are  continued  to  Portland,  Maine,  and  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, the  following  plans  of  water  navigation  have  been  projected  and  are  partially  in 
progress : 

The  principal  enterprise  is  that  of  a  canal  on  the  American  side  around  the  falls  of 
Niagara,  eight  miles  in  length.  It  is  proposed  to  make  the  locks  275  feet  long,  46  feet 
wide,  and  13  feet  deep  on  the  sills,  giving  capacity  for  the  passage  of  vessels  of  twelve 
hundred  tons. 

There  are  many  canals  on  the  Canadian  side  projected,  in  progress,  or  completed.  The 
proposed  Ottawa  ship  canal  will  pass  from  the  easterly  side  of  Lake  Huron  up  the  French 
River  to  Lake  Nippisisngue  ;  from  thence  by  canal  across  the  elevation  of  Trout  Lake,  at 
the  head  of  Mattawaco  River,  and  down  it  to  its  junction  with  the  Ottawa;  following  the 
latter  to  Montreal.  The  length  of  the  canal  proper  is  37|  miles,  and  the  whole  improve- 
ment will  cost  $24,000,000.  A  recent  location  makes  a  line  of  canal  projjer  29.32  miles 
long,  and  a  route  of  canal  and  improved  river  and  lake  navigation  40H  miles  in  length 
from  Montreal  to  Lake  Huron.  It  will  effect  a  saving  of  distance  between  Montreal  and 
Chicago,  of  8424  miles  over  the  circuitous  route  of  the  great  lakes.  The  locks  on  this 
route  will  be  50  feet  wide,  250  feet  long,  and  10  feet  on  the  sills,  which  will  pass  vessels 
of  3,000  tons.    Lift  605^  feet. 

The  Georgian  Bay  and  Toronto  Canal  will  connect  Toronto  with  Lake  Huron  by  a 
route  only  100  miles  long,  and  470  feet  lift  of  locks.  The  locks  will  be  265  feet  long,  55 
wide,  and  32  feet  on  the  sills,  costing  $22,000,000.  By  this  route  the  distance  between 
Chicago  and  Montreal,  compared  with  that  by  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  or  by  the  Wel- 
land Canal,  will  be  428  miles  less. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  ROUTE  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 

The  determined  enterprise  of  the  British  capitalists  and  colonists  who  are  undertaking 
the  expensive  works  in  Canada,  which  have  just  been  described,  proves  two  important 
facts.  It  proves  how  much  water  transportation  is  still  valued  and  relied  on  even  in  lat- 
itudes of  frost  where  canals  can  be  used  only  about  200  days  in  the  year  ;  and  it  proves 
that  there  is  some  insuperable  objection  to  navigation  on  the  great  lakes,  especially^those 
of  Erie  and  Ontario,  which  it  is  of  great  importance  to  avoid,  by  shorter  lines  across  the 
northern  peninsula. 

The  nature  of  that  objection  can  be  learned  from  the  following  facts  : 
After  various  unsuccessful  experiments,  it  is  perfectly  ascertained  that  ordinary  canal 
boats,  such  as  are  in  use  upon  the  Ohio  and  Erie  Canals,  cannot  be  safely  towed  upon  the 
stormy  surface  of  the  great  lakes.    The  modern  barge  system  cannot,  therefore,  be  ap- 
plied on  the  lakes. 


JAMES  RH^R  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


43 


The  board  of  the  New  York  State  canals,  in  their  report  for  1835,  set  forth  the  fol- 
lowing state  of  facts : 

''The  method  of  towing  barges  by  means  of  steamboats  has  been  very  successfully 
practiced  on  the  Hudson  River;  but  on  the  lakes,  though  a  great  many  steamboat-s 
have  been  in  use  for  several  years,  the  plan  has  not  been  adopted,  because  steamboats 
cannot  manage  barges  in  a  storm.  *  *  *  *  An  intelligent  gentleman  of  several 
years"  expenence  in  navigating  steamboats  on  Lake  Ontario  informs  us  that  he  con- 
sidered it  impracticable  as  a  regular  business  for  steamboats,  to  tow  vessels  with  safety 
on  the  lakes,  unless  the  vessels  were  fitted  with  masts  and  rigging,  and  sufficiently 
manned  so  as  to  be  conducted  by  sails  in  a  storm  ;  that  storms  often  rise  very  suddenly 
on  these  lakes,  and  -with  such  violence  as  would  compel  a  steamboat  to  cut  loose  vessels 
in  tow  in  order  to  sustain  herself." 

Those  who  have  not  vritnessed  them  can  form  no  adequate  idea  of  the  violence  of 
lake  storms.  The  annual  damage  sustained  by  the  massive  masonry  of  the  piers  by 
■which  the  harbors  are  protected,  in  which  stones  weighing  upward  of  half  a  ion  are 
sometimes  raised  from  their  beds  and  completely  upturned,  the  range  of  lofty  trees 
rooted  up  and  thrown  upon  the  bordering  shores,  and  the  numerous  vessels  driven 
ashore  and  totally  lost  or  seriously  damaged,  furnish  striking  evidences  of  the  power  of 
an  agency  which  nothing  can  resist.  They  are  even  more  powerful  than  the  "ground 
swells  '•  of  the  ocean  near  the  shore.  In  all  land-locked  bodies  of  water  the  waves  are 
short  and  sudden  in  their  movements,  proving  very  destructive  to  whatever  obstacle  is 
opposed  to  their  fury ;  but  there  is  a  characteristic  slowness  in  the  long  movemeni 
01  the  ocean's  swell  Avhich,  it  is  generally  acknowledged,  renders  it  less  destructive  to 
marine  works  exposed  to  its  action  than  the  waves  produced  in  land-locked  lakes  or 
seas. 

From  Mr.  TToodbridge's  report  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  February,  IS43, 
upon  the  subject  of  the  trade  of  the  lakes  it  appears  ''-that  from  183i  to  18:11,  inclu- 
sive, the  number  of  wrecks  upon  Lake  Michigan  amounted  to  eighty-nine  vessels; 
that  those  wrecks  v/ere  acconipanied  by  a  destruction  of  property  to  the  value 
of  81,052,4:50  ;  and  that  one  hundred  and  fifteen  lives  were  sacrificed.-'  The  same  report 
makes  the  di.>;closure  that  during  the  year  18-12  alone,  "two  steamboats,  one  ship,  and 
seventeen  schooners,  were  totally  lost  in  the  storms  on  the  upper  lakes  ;  and  that  three 
other  steaniboats,  two  brigs,  and  ten  schooners,  were  driven  ashore,  accompanied  by 
the  probable  loss  of  nearly  one-half  million  of  value  in  property,  and  more  than  a  hun- 
dred lives." 

From  the  shallo^vness  of  the  water  upon  Lake  Erie,  compared  with  that  upon  the  other 
lakes,  it  is  more  easily  and  more  permanently  aiiected  by  frost,  its  navigation  being 
generally  obstructed  by  ice  for  some  weeks  every  spring,  after  that  of  all  the  others  is 
open  and  unimpeded.  From  the  same  cause  this  lake  is  likewise  contradistinguished 
from  all  the  others  by  a  siight  current  constantly  setting  from  the  west  to  east,  which, 
together  with  the  prevailing  southwesterly  winds,  causes  the  floating  ice  in  spring  to  drift 
down  to  accumulate  to  a  vast  extent  about  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  thereby 
retarding  the  opening  of  the  navigation  at  the  entrance  of  the  Erie  and  Welland  canals 
some  three  weeks  beyond  the  period  at  which  it  opens  at  the  port  of  Erie  upon  the 
southern  side  of  the  lake. 

There  is  a  signiucant  fact  disclosed  by  the  last  report  of  the  New  York  canals.  For 
the  months  of  October  and  December,  of  1867,  the  receipts  from  tolls  were  about  two 
millions,  being  a  little  more  than  half  the  receipts  for  the  fiscal  year,  and  more  than 
half  the  estimated  receipts  for  the  next  fiscal  year.  These  figures  show  that  the  navi- 
gation closes  just  when  the  demand  for  transportation  is  greatest,  and  the  comparative 
smallness  of  receipts  for  the  other  five  months  of  open  na^^gation  shows  that  the  freight 
which  cannot  use  this  canal  gets  to  market  over  other  and  much  more  expensive  avenues 
of  transportation. 

It  is  probably  owing  to  this  serious  disadvantage  of  the  lake  route  that  so  little 
success  has  attended  the  various  etibrts  which  have  been  made  to  institute  direct  ex- 
ports from  the  lakes  to  Europe.  Notwithstanding  all  these  efibrts,  the  following  list 
will  show  the  whole  number  of  vessels  that  have  passed  from  the  lakes  to  the  ocean, 
from  18-4H  to  1865  (excepting  lS6-i,  1851,  1852,  1853,  and  18-19,  for  which  the  statistics 
are  not  available  : ) 


9 

2 

^  When  the  magnitude  of  the  western  lake  trade,  and  when  the  costliness  and  perfec- 
tion of  the  canals  which  have  been  constructed  for  the  passage  of  ocean  shipping  are 


44 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL* 


considered,  this  must  be  confessed  to  be  a  meager  exhibit,  and  it  affords  conclusira 
proof  that  trade  avoids  the  outlet  furnished  by  the  St.  Lavyrence  rather  than  seek  it. 

For  the  trade  of  the  vast  country  lying  in  the  States  west  and  southwest  of  the 
lakes,  this  route  does  not  seem  to  furnish  a  cheap  outlet.  In  an  able  paper  on  the  duty 
of  the  Federal  Government  in  connection  with  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  its  tributaries,  Prof.  Sylvester  TTaterhouse,  of  St.  Louis,  remarks  :  "  Under  all  the 
existing  difficulties  (of  this  navigation)  the  freight  of  cereals  from  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi to  New  York  is  far  cheaper  by  way  of  New  Orleans  than  it  is  by  the  lakes  and  the 
New  York  canal.  The  comparative  rates  of  transportation  from  Dubuque,  Iowa,  to 
New  York,  are  : 

Cents  per  bushel. 

Via  of  the  lakes  „  „ .  o  , .  68 

Via  New  Orleans   38 

Difference  in  favor  of  southern  route   30 

The  present  cost  of  shipping  grain  from  Chicago  to  Cairo  hy  rail,  and  thence  via  New 
Orleans  to  New  York  by  water,  is  no  greater  than  the  freight  to  the  same  point  by  way 
of  the  lakes.  The  existing  water  tariff  on  wheat  in  bulk  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  is ; 

Cents. 


By  the  lakes   44 

From  Chicago  to  Cairo  by  rail   20 

From  Cairo  to  New  Orleans  by  water   12 

From  New  Orleans  to  New  York  by  water   12 


So  extreme  is  the  cheapness  of  river  carriage  that  the  rates  of  the  southern  route, 
increased  by  300  miles  of  costly  railroad  transit,  do  not  exceed  those  of  the  northern 
line.  If  we  take  a  point  on  the  Mississippi,  south  of  the  latitude  of  Chicago,  such  as 
Dubuque,  the  saving  is  30  cents  a  bushel,  by  the  New  Orleans  route.  This  gives  38 
cents  as  the  cost ;  and  it  is  believed  that  after  the  improvement  of  the  rapids  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  erection  of  elevators  for  the  transfer  of  grain  in  bulk,  the  freight 
of  cereals  from  the  Upper  Mississippi  to  New  York  by  way  of  New  Orleans  will  be 
reduced  to  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel. 

Such  a  reduction,  and  even  the  present  low  rates,  will  powerfully  affect  the  movement 
of  western  grain  ;  for  even  as  early  as  in  1865,  out  of  48,000,000  bushels  of  grain  shipped 
to  Chicago,  15,000,000  were  brought  from  points  on  the  Mississippi;  and  it  is  officially 
stated  that  three-fifths  of  all  the  wheat  received  in  1865  at  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  came 
from  the  towns  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

THE  TIRGTNTA  WATER-LINE  THE  BEST  SUBSTITUTE. 

The  serious  disadvantages  which  have  been  here  detailed  attending  the  navigation 
of  the  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Gulf,  coupled  with  the  other  consideration, 
that  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Great  Britain  this  important  channel  of  transportation 
of  the  produce  of  the  west  to  the  east  would  be  obstructed,  have  combined  to  impress 
upon  the  public  mind  of  the  east  the  great  importance  of  auxiliary  lines  of  railroad  lying 
wholly  within  the  national  jurisdiction. 

This  well-grounded  appreciation  of  railroads  which  grew  gradually  into  a  railroad 
mania,  operated  for  several  years  to  turn  public  attention  away  for  a  period  from  all 
artificial  water-line  routes  of  transportation.  But  now  it  is  discovered,  after  the  fullest 
experiment,  that  railroads  are  inadequate  to  the  performance  of  the  immense  transpor- 
tation required,  and  that  they  are  liable  to  the  popular  objection  of  being  in  charge  of 
close  corporations,  and  are  not,  like  canals,  open  to  indiscriminate  public  use  at  moderate 
rates  of  charge. 

The  Virginia  canal,  owing  to  the  costliness  of  the  work,  did  not  reach  completion 
before  the  railroad  fever  had  taken  possession  of  the  public  ;  and  it  has  had  to  wait  for 
its  consummation  to  that  returning  appreciation,  which  is  now  again  felt,  of  cheap,  wa- 
ter transportation.  It  offers  now  a  channel  of  navigation  from  west  to  east  shorter  than 
any  other,  cheaper  than  any  other,  more  expeditious,  and  more  tree  from  all  obstruc- 
tions arising  from  a  climate  or  a  public  enemy,  than  all  the  rest.  Its  only  rivals  in 
capacity,  for  western  trade,  are  the  Mississippi  and  Gulf  route  on  one  hand,  and  the 
great  lake,  Erie  Canal,  and  St.  Lawrence  River  routes  on  the  other.  Both  of  these  bound- 
ary routes  are  circuitous,  while  this  central  one  is  direct.  Both  of  the  others  take 
Anaerican  produce  out  of  the  Union,  in  transporting  it  from  one  part  of  the  Union  to 
the  other,  subjecting  it  to  the  dangers  of  war ;  and  while  one  of  them  subjects  our  na- 
tional products  to  the  damaging  effects  of  a  semi-tropical  climate,  and  the  hazards 
of  Gulf  and  coast  navigation,  the  other  renders  it  liable  to  be  seized  for  months  and  held 
by  the  ice,  or  wrecked  and  lost  by  the  lake  storms. 

Emphatically,  in  the  case  of  the  Virginia  line  it  is  true,  in  medio  tuttissimus  ibis.  It 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL.  45 

offers  the  safest,  the  shortest,  the  most  central,  the  cheapest,  the  most  constantly  open, 
and  the  most  available  of  all  the  channels  of  outlet  by  water  for  western  trade. 

The  rapid  expansion  and  extension  of  inland  navigation  in  the  central  basin  of  the 
continent  is  producing  an  increase  in  the  quantity  of  trade  demanding  outlet  to  the 
seaboard  far  exceeding  the  capacity  of  all  existing  avenues  of  outlet  to  discharge,  and 
imperatively  requiring  the  opening  of  a  new  line  of  direct  water  navigation  to  the  sea- 
board equal  in  capacity  to  the  Erie  Canal.  The  extent  of  this  inland  navigation  will 
now  be  displayed  in  a  few  paragraphs. 

VAST  EXTENT  OP  OUR  INLAND  NAVIGATION. 

The  construction  of  a  ship  canal  less  than  one  mile  in  length  between  Lakes  Travor 
and  Big  Stone,  in  Minnesota,  will  unite  the  waters  of  the  river  St.  Peter's  with  those  of 
the  great  Red  River  of  jSTorthwest  British  America.  The  Red  River  of  the  North  is 
navigable  for  steamboats  for  seven  hundred  miles  to  Lake  Winnepeg ;  and  from  Lake 
Winnepeg  this  navigation  is  extended  by  the  Saskatchawan,  seven  hundred  miles  to  the 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  within  a  short  distance  of  Frazier's  gold  diggings.  Thus 
navigation  will  soon  be  opened  west  of  the  Mississippi  from  St.  Paul,  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  to  Frazier's  diggings  in  British  Columbia,  via  the  St.  Peter's  and  the  Red  River 
of  the  North.  East  of  the  river,  the  union  of  the  head- waters  of  the  Wisconsin  and 
Fox  Rivers,  in  Wisconsin,  will  make  a  navigable  water  route  from  the  Mississippi  to 
Green  Bay,  on  Lake  Michigan.  Further  south,  one  hundred  miles  of  ship  canal,  from 
Chicago  west  to  Peoria,  with  some  improvements  in  the  Illinois  River,  will  make  another 
navigable  water  route  for  large  vessels  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan.  A  canal 
in  Ohio  connects  Portsmouth  on  the  Ohio  River  with  Cleveland  on  Lake  Erie.  Cincin- 
nati on  the  Ohio  River,  and  Toledo  on  Lake  Erie,  are  connected  by  the  Miami  Canal.  A 
canal  from  Toledo  to  Logansport,  Indiana,  with  the  Wabash  River,  unites  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio  River  with  those  of  Lake  Erie  at  Toledo.  Should  the  wants  of  commerce 
require  it,  these  latter  canals  can  be  enlarged  through  Ohio  and  Indiana,  to  a  capacity 
for  passing  steamboats  of  six  hundred  tons  burden. 

The  proposed  dimensions  of  the  canal  above  described,  as  projected  for  uniting  Prairie 
du  Chien,  on  the  Mississippi,  with  Green  Bay,  on  Lake  Michigan,  across  the  State  of 
Wisconsin,  are  as  follows :  The  entire  improvement  will  be  295  miles  in  length,  of  which 
175  miles,  chiefly  of  lake  and  river  navigation,  are  in  use.  The  locks  will  be  160  feet 
long  by  35  feet  wide.  The  Upper  Fox  is  not  yet  fully  improved,  but  now  passes  barges 
of  greater  capacity  than  those  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The  dimensions  of  the  water-line 
through  Illinois  will  be,  when  the  canal  is  enlarged,  length  100  miles,  with  locks  350 
feet  long  by  70  feet  wide  ;  cost  $10,000,000.  These  two  latter  works  are  not  antagon- 
istic, and  will  make  a  navigable  water  communication  between  the  great  chain  of  lakes 
and  upwards  of  20,000  miles  of  navigable  rivers,  including  the  Mississippi  and  its  nu- 
merous tributaries,  and  the  Red  River  of  the  North  and  Saskatchawan  of  British 
America.  These  improvements,  in  connection  with  the  short  ship  canal,  less  than  a 
mile  long,  between  lakes  Bigstone  and  Traver,  will  open  steamboat  navigation  from 
Chicago  or  New  Orleans  to  Lake  Winnepeg,  which  is  700  miles  distant  from  St.  Paul. 
This  great  sheet  of  water  is  as  large  as  Lake  Ontario,  and  receives  the  Saskatchawan 
River  from  the  west,  which  itself  is  navigable  700  miles  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  within 
a  distance  of  50  miles  from  the  Frazier's  River  gold  mines.  By  means  of  these  improve- 
ments, and  the  various  ship  canals  proposed  or  completed  between  Lake  Michigan  and 
the  east,  steame,rs  from  Quebec,  New  York,  or  New  Orleans,  could  be  passed  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  Missouri,  the  Yellowstone,  and  the  Saskatchawan,  a  distance  of 
5,000  miles  of  inland  water  navigation.  This  vast  extension  of  navigation  must  exert  a 
prodigious  influence  in  stimulating  western  production,  and  produce  an  accumulation  of 
trade  requiring  the  opening  of  every  possible  channel  of  outlet  to  the  seaboard. 

TMie  great  lakes  have  a  shore  line  of  3,620  miles  on  the  American  side,  and  2,629  miles 
on  the  side  of  Canada.  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior  are  navigably  connected  by  a  ship 
canal  around  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Mary's  River,  with  locks  350  feet  long  and  50  feet 
wide,  having  12  feet  lift. 

The  present  extent  of  steamboat  navigation,  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  River,  is 
shown  by  the  following  table,  prepared  by  Colonel  Long,  of  the  United  States  Army  : 


46 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


EXTENT  OP  WESTERN  STEAM  Ni.VIGi.TION. 


Mississippi  and  branches. 


Miles. 

Mississippi  proper   2,000 

St.  Croix   -80 

St.  Peters   120 

Chippewa   70 

Black   60 

Wisconsin   180 

Rock   250 

Iowa   110 

Cedar   60' 

Des  Moines    250 

Illinois   245 

Maramec   60 

Kaskaskia   150 

Big  Muddy   5 

Obion   60 

Forked  Deer   195 

BigHatchie   75 

St.  Francis   300 

White   500 

Big  Black   60 

Spring   50 

Arkansas   603 

Canadian   60 

Neosho   60 

Yazoo   300 

Tallahatchie   300 

Yallabusha   100 

Big  Sunflower   80 

Little  Sunflower   70 

Big  Black   150 

Cumberland ...    400 

Tennessee..   720 

lied  River  and  branches. 

Red  River  proper   1,500 

Washita   375 

Saline   100 

Little  Missouri   50 

Bayou  d' Arbour   60 

Bayou  Bartholomew   150 

Bayou  Boeuf   151) 

Bayou  Macon   175 

Bayou  de  Glaze   90 


Hllas. 

Bayou  Carre   140 

Bayou  Lafourche   60 

Bayou  Rouze   40 

Bayou  Plaquemine    12 

Bayou  Teche   92 

Grand  River   12 

Bayou  Sorrel   12 

Bayou  Chene ,   5 

Missouri  and  branches. 

Missouri  proper  *.   1 , 500 

Yellowstone   300 

Platte  River   40 

Kansas   150 

Osage  .*   275 

Grand   90 

Ohio  and  branches. 

Ohio  proper   1,000 

Alleghany   200 

Monongahela   60 

Muskingum   70 

Kanawha   65 

Big  Sandy   50 

Scioto   50 

Kentucky   62 

Salt  River   35 

Green   150 

Barren   30 

Wabash   400 

Bayou  Louis   30 

Tensas   150 

Lacke  Bistenaw   60 

Lake  Caddo   75 

Sulphur  Fork   100 

Little  River   65 

Kiamitia   40 

Boggy   40 

Bayou  Pierre   150 

Atchafalaya   360 


Total  16,674 


Here  are  nearly  seventeen  thousand  miles  of  steamboat  navigation.  It  would  be  a 
moderate  estimate  to  reckon  the  slack-water  navigation  of  these  rivers,  for  boats  other 
than  steamboats,  at  the  same  number  of  miles  in  addition.  And,  if  we  accept  the  as- 
sertion of  an  eminent  European  engineer  that  any  stream  having  a  volume  of  water  19 
feet  wide  and  18  inches  deep  may  be  made  navigable,  and  is  considered  a  commercial 
stream  in  Europe,  then  there  are  still  as  many  miles  in  addition  of  navigable  water  in 
the  great  basin ;  making  a  total  navigation  of  50,000  miles  for  purposes  of  commerce. 

THE  BARGE  SYSTEM  ON  THE  WESTERN  RIVERS — ITS  TENDENCY  TO  DIVERT  TRADE  FROM  THE 
LAKES  TO  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,  AND  TO  THE  OHIO  AND  VIRGINIA  CANAL. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  present  means  of  outlet  for  western  produce  to  the  seaboard, 
other  than  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi,  is  universally  acknowledged.*  For  the  sake 
of  cheapness,  vast  quantities  of  produce  must  take  the  river  and  Gulf  route,  or  not  go 
to  market  at  all.    Notwithstanding  the  objections  which  exist,  and  are  universally  en- 


.  *  In  1S65  Minnesota  alone  produced  10,000,000  bushels  of  wheat.  Three-fourths  of  this  harvest  could 
have  been  exported  if  facilities  of  cheap  transportation  had  offered  sufficient  inducement.  In  lS(j6, 
higher  prices — which  produce  the  same  efl'ect  as  cheaper  freight — led  to  the  exportation  of  8,000,000  of 
bushels.  It  is  such  a  state  of  freight  charges  or  of  market  prices  as  will  leave  a  profit  to  the  producer 
which  brings  out  pre  ducts  to  market. 


JAMES  RIVER  A2TD  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


47 


tertained,  to  that  route,  its  trade  is  rapidir  increasing  from  the  very  necessity  of  the 
case.  TTithin  the  last  three  years  it  has  received  so  great  an  impetus,  that  improve- 
ments in  the  facilities  for  transferring  produce  from  vessel  to  vessel,  and  for  towing  it 
upon  the  •water,  have  become  indispensable.  The  barge  system  has  accordingly  been 
substituted  for  the  old  one  of  placing  the  produce  on  large  steamboats.  Steam-tugs  of 
immense  strength  are  employed.  Th'ey  carry  no  freight.  They  are  simply  the  motive- 
power.  They  save  delay  by  taking  f^iel  for  the  round  trip.  Landing  only  at  the  large 
cities,  they  stop  barely  long  enough  to  attach  a  loaded  barge.  By  this  economy  of  time 
and  steady  movement,  they  equal  the  speed  of  steamboats.  The  Mohawk  made  its 
first  trip  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  in  six  days,  with  ten  barges  in  tow.  The 
management  of  the  barges  is  precisely  like  that  of  freight  carS:  The  barges  are  loaded 
in  the  absence  of  the  steam-tug.  The  tug  arrives,  leaves  a  train  of  barges,  takes  another 
and  proceeds.  Tiie  tug  itself  is  alw-ays  at  work.  It  does  not  lie  at  the  levees  while  the 
barges  are  unloading.  Its  largest  stoppage  is  made  for  fuel.  The  power  of  these  boats 
is  enormous.  The  tugs  plying  on  the  Minnesota  River  sometimes  tow  30.00C  bushels 
of  wheat  apiece.  The  freight  of  a  single  trip  would  fill  So  railroad  cars.  Steamboats  are 
obliged  to  remain  in  port  two  or  three  days  for  the  shipment  of  freight.  The  heavy 
expense  which  this  delay  and  the  necessity  of  large  crews  involves,  is  a  grave  objection 
to  the  old  system  of  transportation.  The  service  of  the  steam-tugs  requires  but  few 
men,  and  the  cost  of  running  is  relatively  low.  The  advantages  which  are  claimed  for 
the  barge  system-  are  exhibited  by  the  following  table  : 


Crew  

Tonnage  

Daily  expenses, 
Original  cost. . . 


Tugs  and  barges. 

Steamboats. 

6  hours. 

48  hours. 

50  men. 

81,000. 

8100,000. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  precautions  against  fire,  the  barges  have  this  unmistaka- 
ble advantage  over  steamboats,  they  can  be  cut  adrift  from  each  other,  and  the  fire 
restricted  to  tha  narrowest  limits.  The  barges  are  very  strongly  built,  and  have 
water-tight  compartments  for  the  movement  of  grain  in  bulk.  The  transportation  of 
grain  from  Minnesota  to  Xew  Orleans  by  water  costs  no  more  than  the  freiglitage  from 
the  same  point  by  railroad  to  Chicago.  After  the  erection  of  a  floating  elevator  at  Xew 
Orleans,  a  boat  load  of  grain  from  St.  Paul  will  not  be  handled  again  till  it  reaches  the 
Crescent  City. 

The  dimensions  of  the  vessels  employed  on  the  river  between  St.  Louis  and  Xew 
Orleans  are  as  follows  : 

TOW-BOATS. 

Light  draught.      Depth  of  hold.  Breadth.  Length.  Tonnage. 

3J  feet.  5J  feet.  30  feet.  180  feet.  6,500  bushels  coaL 

BARGES. 

Hfeet.  6  feet.  30  feet.  175  feet.  600  tons. 

U  feet.  8  feet.  34  feet.  190  feet,  1,000  tons. 

The  tow-boats  have  two  engines  each  ;  the  cylinders  are  22  inches  in  diameter,  with 
20-inch  stroke.  One  tow-boat  will  draw  eight  thousand  tons  of  freight.  The  time  from 
St.  Louis  to  X'ew  Orleans  is  6  days  down,  10  days  back  ;  round  trip,  on  the  average,  18 
days. 

The  Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Company  has  5  tow-boats  and  37  barges. 
They  are  crowded  with  business.  They  handle  as  much  as  11,000  tons  of  freight  in  a 
week.  The  business  is  rapidly  and  largely  developing.  The  barge  system  will  soon 
supersede  all  other  methods  of  transportation  on  western  waters.  An  indispensable 
adjunct  of  it  is  the  steam  elevator  for  transferring  grain  from  vessel  to  vessel  in  bulk. 
The  St.  Louis  elevator  cost  $450,000,  and  has  a  capacity  of  1 ,250,000  bushels.  It  is  able 
to  handle  100.000  bushels  a  day.  It  began  to  receive  grain  in  October,  1865.  Before 
the  first  of  January,  1866,  its  receipts  amounted  to  600,000  bushels,  200,000  of  which 
were  brought  directly  from  Chicago,  The  local  receipts  at  the  elevator  in  1S66  were 
1.376,700  bushels.  Grain  can  now  be  shipped  by  way  of  St,  Louis  and  Xew  Orleans  to 
Xew  York  and  Europe  twenty  cents  a  bushel  cheaper  than  it  can  be  carried  to  the  At- 
lantic by  the  other  existing  routes.  The  effect  produced  by  the  barge  system  are  thus 
described  by  a  Xew  Orleans  correspondent  of  the  Xew  York  Times  : 


48 


^AMfiS  ItlVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


"  New  Orleans,  Sunday,  April  5,  1868. 


CHICAGO  AND  NEW  ORLEANS. 


"  Every  one  observes  how  this  most  enterprising  people  is  prospecting  for  commercial 
expansion.  Chicago  owns  about  one-thjrd  of  the  whole  tonnage  of  the  Union.  She 
controls  the  lakes,  and  is  forcing  her  way  by  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  ocean.  She  is 
penetrating  the  upper  country  of  the  Northwest  and  intercepting  from  St.  Louis  the 
productions  of  Iowa  and  Montana.  Eecently  she  has  discovered  that  the  Mississippi 
is  the  cheapest  open  way  to  the  markets  of  the  world,  so  she  has  sent  her  commercial 
explorers  to  mark  her  pathway  to  the  ocean  by  way  of  New  Orleans.  The  great  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  has  taken  hold  of  the  West  India  trade,  and  offered  such  induce- 
ments to  western  importers  that  Havana  sends  her  products  by  this  route  instead  of  by 
New  York.  The  Texas  cattle  dealers  have  adopted  this  route.  Large  capital  has  been 
put  in  grain  elevators,  and  western  men  who  are  here  to  conduct  the  business  claim 
confidently  this  in)portant  commerce.  These  explorers  from  the  Northwest  seem  de- 
lighted with  the  climate  and  local  attractions  of  New  Orleans,  and  with  a  rapid  rail 
time  between  th3  sudws  of  the  North  and  the  sunny  troUoirs  of  New  Orleans,  we  have 
crowds  of  business  men  with  their  families  constantly  among  us.  This  has  given  an 
impulse  to  our  western  trade,  and  has  occasioned  considerable  investments  in  city  and 
country  real  estate. 


"  The  giant  Northwest  is  in  fact  beginning  to  perceive  and  employ  its  physical  ability 
in  the  commercial  politics  of  the  country.  With  the  conviction  that  the  Mississippi 
outlet  was  of  indispensable  importance,  it  has  decreed  that  all  obstacles  to  the  navi- 
gation of  that  river  shall  be  removed,  from  its  sources  to  its  mouth.  So  the  Des  Moines 
Canal  is  under  contract.  It  is  to  be  seven  miles  long,  three  hundred  feet  wide,  and 
six  feet  in  depth.  The  smaller  obstructions  of  the  upper  river,  including  the  bridge 
at  Rock  Island,  are  to  be  removed  or  so  modified  as  no  longer  to  impede  navigation. 
Then  the  Government  has  ordered  a  dredge-boat,  costing  nearly  $400,000,  to  go  to  work 
on  the  Belize  Passes.  Besides  this,  St.  Louis  is  declared  a  port  of  entry,  and  hereafter 
goods  will  be  imported  direct  to  that  city.  This  will  no  doubt  make  a  great  change  in 
the  values  imported  by  way  of  this  custom  house.  There  are  other  evidences  that  this 
great  internal  power  will  make  itself  felt  in  the  legislation  and  foreign  policy  of  the 
Government.  It  is  a  leviathan,  which  has  only  made  itself  known  so  far  by  spouting 
and  an  occasional  lash  of  its  tail.  When  its  power  shall  be  fully  awakened  it  will 
snap  the  ropes  and  splinter  the  life-boats  of  the  politicians  who  are  after  it  for  its 
blubber  alone.  The  character  of  national  politics  will  be  fixed  by  the  millions  who 
inhabit  the  Northwest.  They  are  mostly  of  European  origin,  believe  in  the  divine 
right  of  the  majority,  think  that  the  minority  ought  to  be  hanged  for  the  treason  of  a 
difference  of  opinion.  In  a  word,  they  have  transfused  the  doctrine  of  European  des- 
potism into  the  forms  of  a  popular  government.  Whenever  this  numerical  power  shall 
demonstrate  itself  we  may  anticipate  a  moral  revolution  in  the  political  administration 
of  this  democratic  republic." 

The  employm.ent  of  the  barge  system  on  the  Ohio  River  will,  as  to  all  trade  accessible 
to  that  stream,  neutralize  the  objection  to  the  overland  portage  from  Parkersburg  to 
tide-water  at  Baltimore,  by  way  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  New  York  it  appeared  that  transportation  by  rail  to 
Cincinnati  from  that  city  cost  70  cents  per  hundred,  while  from  Boston  and  Philadel- 
phia along  the  Atlantic  coa^t  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake,  thence  north  to  Balti- 
more, and  thence  by  railroad  to  Cincinnati,  the  cost  is  40  cents  per  hundred.  The 
Baltimore  Gazette  of  April  11,  1868,  gives  the  following  table  of  freight  charges 
respectively  from  New  York  and  Baltimore  to  different  points  in  the  West  on  fourth- 
class  goods : 


THE  NORTHWEST  ON  POLITICS. 


From  New 
York. 


From  Balti- 
more. 


To  Cincinnati 
To  Louisville  < 
To  St,  Louis.. 
To  Chicago. . 


Per  hundred, 
$0  50 


Per  hundred, 
$0  '60 


To  Indianapolis 


66 
94 
55 
53 


48 
55 
38 
35 


These  differences  are  producing  a  great  diversion  to  the  Baltimore  route  from  the 
more  northern  ones,  and  demonstrate  the  strong  tendency  of  trade  to  seek  the  shortest 
crossing  from  the  West  to  tide=water. 


49 


*raE  QUESTlOif  Of  SACS'LOAtHNG.^JTvODrCTg  Of  THfi  KAXAWHA  TALLET. 

Transportation  by  either  of  the  two  great  routes  of  circuitotis  navigation,  front  the 
West  to  the  sea,  which  have  been  considered,  is  conducted  under  the  very  costly  dis- 
advantage of  a  deficiency  of  return  freights  for  the  boats  conveying  the  trade.  The 
products  moved  eastward  from  the  TTest  are  gross  and  bulky,  while  the  freights  taken 
back  to  the  TTest  consist  chiefly  of  articles  much  lighter  and  less  bulky  in  proportion 
to  their  value.  All  the  statistics  of  trade  between  East  and  TTest  show  that  the  ton- 
nage moving  eastward  exceeds,  by  several  fold,  that  moving  westward.  This  condition 
of  trade  subjects  the  boats  engaged  in  it  to  the  necessity  of  retm-ning  westward  either 
wholly  or  partially  empty.  In  TTestern  I^Tew  York  the  deficiency  of  back-loading  thus 
occasioned  has  produced  a  very  great  development  in  the  salt  manufacture,  and  swollen 
that  business  in  that  locality  probably  to  the  largest  salt  manufacture  in  the  world. 

The  reverse  state  of  things  now  exists  in  the  trade  of  the  Ohio  Eiver.  A  very  large 
portion  of  the  western  population  derives  its  coal  from  the  mines  on  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Ohio,  This  mineral  is  bulky  in  proportion  to  its  value,  and  boats  carrying  it 
down  from  the  region  about  Pittsburg  to  the  places  of  consumption,  have  no  sufficient 
return  loading  eastward  in. consequence  of  there  being  no  outlet  of  navigation  to  the 
seaboard  from  the  Upper  Ohio,  do  not  return  at  all,  and  are  broken  up  for  fuel  or  lum- 
ber, and  sold  at  a  sacrifice. 

The  opening  of  the  water-line  from  the  Great  Kanawha  Eiver,  through  Virginia  to 
the  Atlantic,  will  correct  both  of  these  serious  disadvantages  incident  now  to  western 
trade.  The  boats  or  barges  which  shall  carry  the  heavy  and  bulky  farm  produce  of 
the  far  interior  to  the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay  will  refill  in  returning  with  the  fine 
bituminous  coals  of  "West  Virginia,  and  carry  them  back  to  the  very  hearths  of  those 
western  farmers  from  whose  granaries  they  were  loaded  for  the  eastward  voyage.  The 
coals  of  "West  Virginia  would  themselves  supply  all  the  return  tonnage  which  the  boats 
moving  east  would  require  ;  but  in  the  event  of  any  deficiency  in  this  respect,  the 
salines  of  the  Kanawha  Valley,  now  producing  two  millions  of  bushels  of  salt  per 
annum,  would  multiply  their  production  to  any  possible  requirement. 

It  is  well  kno"svn  to  geological  men  that  the  veins  of  bituminous  coal  which  pervade 
the  entire  western  slope  of  the  Appalachian  chain  of  mountains  have  their  maximum 
aggregate  thickness  in  the  Kanawha  Valley. 

From  a  late  authentic  work  on  the  subject  of  the  Kanawha  coals,  the  following  ex- 
tract is  made  : 

"the  GEEAT  KANAWHA  COAL  FIELDS. 

"  The  coal  fields  of  the  Great  Kanawha  region,  in  "West  Virginia,  are  superior  to  those 
of  Great  Britain  or  Pennsylvania.  They  are  regarded  by  eminent  geologists  as  ihe 
finest  deposit  of  cool  in  the  world.  The  quality  of  Kanawha  cannel  coal  is  equal  to  the 
best  English  cannel ;  the  quality  of  its  bituminous  coal  is  equal  to  the  best  found  in 
Pennsylvania  ;  and  Kanawha  splint  coal,  for  smelting  iron  ore,  is  unsurpassed.  The 
veins  lie  horizontally,  and  vary  from  three  feet  to  fifteen  feet  in  thickness  ;  and  the 
aggregate  thickness  of  the  various  veins  in  some  localities  amounts  to  forty  and  even 
fifty  feet  of  solid  coal. 

"  The  advantages  of  the  Great  Kanawha  coal  fields  over  those  near  Pittsburg  mar  be 
summed  up  as  follows  : 

"1.  The  Kanawha  coal  fields  contain  as  good  bituminous  coal  as  the  best  found  on  the 
Monongahela  and  Youghiogheny,  and,  in  addition  thereto,  large  deposits  of  cannel  coal, 
equal  in  quality  to  the  best  English  cannel,  none  of  which  is  found  in  the  Monongahela 
coal  fields. 

"2.  The  veins  of  coal  are  thicker  and  more  numerous  on  the  Kanawha  than  on  the 
Monongahela.  Veins  of  splint  and  bituminous  coal  on  the  Kanawha  are  from  four  feet 
to  fifteen  feet  thick,  and  the  cannel  from  thirty  inches  to  five  feet  thick. 

"3.  Coal  lands  on  the  Monongahela  and  Youghiogheny  sell  for  $  300  and  $400  per 
acre,  while  better  coal  lands  on  the  Kanawha  can  now  be  purchased  for  from  $  10  to  $  20 
per  acre. 

"  4.  The  Kanawha  coal  fields  are  230  miles  nearer  to  Cincinnati  and  the  southwest 
cities  than  the  Monongahela  coal  fields  are.  This  gives  to  Kanawha  coal  an  advantage 
of  at  least  one  cent  per  bushel  in  cost  of  transportation  to  such  markets  over  the  Monon- 
gahela and  Youghiogheny  coal. 

"  5.  The  navigation  of  the  Ohio  at  Point  Pleasant  is  greatly  better  than  it  is  at  Pitts- 
burg ;  therefore,  Kanawha  coal  can  be  more  frequentfy  shipped  from  Point  Pleasant 
than  Monongahela  coal  can  from  Pittsburg, 

"6.  The  navigation  of  the  Kanawha  and  Lower  Ohio  is  not  interrupted  by  ice  to  the 
extent  that  the  navigation  of  the  Monongahela  and  Upper  Ohio  is,  as  New  River,  the 
chief  tributary  of  the  Kanawha,  rises  in  North  Carolina — while  the  Alleghany  (which^ 
with  the  Monongahela,  forms  the  Ohio)  rises  near  Lake  Erie.  This  gives  to  the  Ohio 
Biver  at  Point  Pleasant  an  advantage  of  two  weeks  and  more  every  winter  over  the 


50 


JAMES  BIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


Ohio  at  Pittsburg — and  at  a  time  when  fuel  is  most  needed  in  Cincinnati  and  Louis- 
Tille. 

*'  7.  The  Kanawha  coal  fields  are  situated  on  what  must  be,  in  time,  a  great  highway 
for  the  trade  and  travel  of  the  Mississippi  Yalley  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  vast 
and  rapidly  increasing  trade  of  the  Great  West  is  seeking  new  routes  for  transit  to  the 
cities  of  the  cea-coast ;  and  the  route  through  the  Kanawha  Valley  has  advantages  over 
all  others  in  shortness  of  distance,  grade  of  road,  and  mildness  of  climated 

COALS  FOR  THE  SEABOARD  CITIES  AND  FACTORIES. 

The  coals  of  tlie  Kanawha  region  are  now  shipped  around  by  way  of  New  Orleans 
and  the  Gulf  to  New  York,  at  a  profit  to  the  miner  and  dealer.  The  quality  of  the 
cannel  coals  of  West  Virginia  is  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  coals  of  England  and  Nova 
Scotia  imported  into  New  York.  It  has  become  of  vital  importance  to  the  manufac- 
turing interests  of  the  seaboard  cities  to  obtain  adequate  supplies  of  the  best  qualities 
of  bituminous  coals  from  shorter  distances  than  those  from  which  they  are  now  derived, 
and  at  cheaper  rates.  The  most  intelligent  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  coal,  of  New 
York  and  the  eastern  cities,  recognize  the  necessity  of  a  resort  to  the  excellent  cannel 
and  bituminous  coals  of  the  Kanawha,  Coal,  Guyandotte  and  Sandy  Rivers  of  West 
Virginia  for  fuel — a  fact  which  is  fully  established  by  the  shipments  that  are  now  making 
of  the  coals  of  that  region  by  the  roundabout  route  of  New  Orleans  to  the  Atlantic 
seaboard. 

The  opening  of  the  Virginia  Canal  will  finally  settle  the  question  of  an  adequate  coal 
supply  for  the  eastern  cities,  and  forever  relieve  the  apprehension  and  scarcity  now  felt 
by  eastern  manufacturers  on  that  vital  subject.  Valuable  as  this  water  fine  will  be  to 
the  West,  as  shown  in  these  pages,  its  importance  is  doubled  by  the  fact  that  the  work 
is  vital  to  the  success  of  the  manufacturing  system  of  the  East,  as  a  means  of  supplying 
the  best  coals  of  the  continent  from  the  nearest  mines  by  the  most  direct  navigation  and 
at  the  cheapest  rates. 

DUTY  OP  CONGRESS  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  INLAND  NAVIGATION. 

"  The  invention  of  Fulton  has  in  reality,  for  all  practical  purposes,  converted  the  Mis- 
sissippi, with  all  its  great  tributaries,  into  an  inland  sea.  Regarding  it  as  such,  I  am 
prepared  to  place  it  on  the  same  footing  with  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  coasts,  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Delaware  Bays,  and  the  lakes,  in  reference  to  the  superintendence  of  the 
General  Government  over  its  navigation.  It  is  manifest  that  it  is  far  beyond  the  power 
of  individual  or  of  separate  States  to  supervise  it,  as  there  are  eighteen  States,  including 
Texas  and  the  Territories — more  than  half  the  Union — which  lie  within  the  Valley  of 
the  Mississippi  or  border  on  its  navigable  tributaries." — J.  C.  Calhoun  in  Memphis  con- 
vention of  1845. 

Pertinent  to  this  question  of  congressional  duty,  with  reference  to  the  western  rivers, 
there  is  an  important  provision  in  that  great  organic  law  of  the  Northwest,  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787.  By  that  law,  enacted  by  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  it  is  declared  that  "  the  navigable 
waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  carrying  places  between  the 
same,  shall  be  common  highways  and  forever  free,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  said 
territories,  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  of  other  states  that  may  be 
admitted  into  the  confederacy,  without  any  tax,  impost,  or  duty  therefor."  It  may  be 
asked.  How  can  the  people  of  the  United  States  at  large  enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  com- 
mon right,  unless  they  have  avenues  of  access  opened  to  them  by  a  competent  power  ; 
and  how  can  the  people  of  the  country  bordering  those  streams  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
their  navigation,  if  that  inland  navigation  be  not  connected  with  the  seaboard,  by  direct 
lines  of  artificial  navigation,  opened  by  competent  authority  ?  This  ordinance  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  compact  between  the  General  Government  and  the  people  of  the  States, 
and  it  reserves  certain  rights,  and  imposes  certain  duties,  in  which  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States  are  interested.  It  is  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  Reserv- 
ing the  rivers  as  common  highv:ays  for  all,  it  divests  all  the  States,  and  each  particular 
State,  of  any  jurisdiction  over  them  ;  and  gives  Congress  full  power  to  extend  their 
advantages  to  every  citizen  of  the  Union. 

Having  guaranteed  to  all  the  people  the  navigation  of  these  rivers  forever,  the  United 
States  is  bound  to  open  avenues  to  them  from  all  directions,  and  keep  them  in  a  condi- 
tion to  be  freely  navigated  and  fully  enjoyed.  But  how  can  an  inland  navigation  be 
fully  enjoyed,  if  Congress  shall  supply  no  direct  and  convenient  outlet  to  the  seaboard 
and'^to  the  markets  of  the  world  ? 

It  is  now  conceded  that  Congress  has  power,  as  proprietor  of  the  public  lands,  to  do 
what  any  prudent  land  owner  may  do  for  the  enhancement  of  the  value  of  his  patri 
mony,  and  can  lawfully  appropriate  part  of  its  lands  in  aid  of  public  works  which  would 
commensurately  enhance  the  lands  retained.  If  this  be  so,  what  method  could  be  con- 
ceived of  that  would  more  certainly  enhance  the  value  of  every  acre  of  public  lands  in 
the  West,  than  the  opening  of  another  canal  of  the  capacity  of  the  Erie,  on  a  more  cen- 
tral, more  southern,  and  shorter  route  ? 

The  attentive  reader  of  these  pages  cannot  fail  to  have  arrived  at  the  conviction, 


JAMBS  HIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


51 


that  water  navigation  affords  greater  advantages  to  greater  numbers  of  people,  at  lower 
rates,  and  for  far  more  numerous  tons  of  produce,  than  railroad  transportation.  Yet 
railroads  have  received  nearly  all  the  bounties  which  Congress  has  been  willing  to 
bestow  upon  public  roads. 

The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  in  his  report  for  1865,  (pp.  34-5,)  gives 
the  following  information : 

"The  immense  railroad  grants  [of  land  by  Congress]  embrace,  by  estimate,  the 
quantity  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions  of  acres ;  exceeding  by  eight  millions 
of  acres  the  aggregate  area  of  the  States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland.  These  enor- 
mous grants  are  within  about  one  fourth  of  being  twice  the  united  area  of  England, 
Scotland,  Wales,  Ireland,  Guernsey,  Jersey,  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  islands  of  the  British 
seas,  and  less  than  a  tenth  of  being  equal  to  the  French  empire  proper,  with  its  eighty- 
nine  departments  and  its  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  ten  communes. 

"Why  is  it  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  the  national  trustee,  charged 
under  the  Constitution  with  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands,  have  made  grants  on  such 
a  stupendous  scale  as  this  ?  The  answer  is  found  not  merely  in  the  indemnifying  prin- 
ciple of  duplicating  the  reserved  sections,  but  in  the  higlier  purpose  of  opening  speedy 
communication  by  the  iron  railway  across  the  continent  to  unite  the  great  industrial 
interests  of  the  Atlantic  slope,  the  Yalley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  declivity  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific." 

Does  not  a  line  of  direct  eastward  navigation,  promising  similar  results'  to  those 
which  followed  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  present  a  very  strong  claim  upon  the 
bounty  of  Congress  ? 

A  CROWNING  ACT  OP  RECONSTRUCTION. 

The  effect  upon  public  opinion  in  the  Southern  States,  of  liberal  grants  of  aid  by 
Congress  in  behalf  of  public  worku  of  national  importance  within  their  borders,  would 
be  unspeakably  happy.  And  no  act  of  such  assistance  would  be  more  gratefully 
received,  or  be  more  beneficial  in  result,  than  a  donation  of  lands  and  loan  of  bonds  in 
behalf  of  so  important  an  enterprise  as  the  completion  of  the  Virginia  water  line. 
Such  an  act,  giving  earnest  of  a  broad  beneficent  policy,  would  exert  as  great  an  influ- 
ence in  securing  thorough  and  permanent  reconstruction  as  any  measure  that  could  be 
adopted  by  the  federal  power.  It  would  completely  identify  Virginia  with  the  great 
West,  and  utterly  and  finally  obliterate  every  sentiment  and  trace  of  sectional  aliena- 
tion. It  would  give  that  bounding  prosperity  to  the  State  which  brings  solace  for  every 
•grievance,  and  sweeps  away  every  remnant  of  the  poverty  and  privation  which  are  the 
sure  nurses  of  disaffection  and  resentment.  The  completion  of  a  great  line  of  trade 
across  the  territory  of  Virginia  would  bind  that  great  leading  Southern  State  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Union  by  the  strong  ties  of  prosperous  commerce,  and  hold  her  in  indis- 
soluble allegiance  for  all  time  to  come. 

The  bestowal  of  such  a  bounty  at  a  period  of  so  much  need  as  the  present  upon  a 
commonwealth  which,  at  a  former  era  of  the  national  history,  made  notable  sacrifices 
in  behalf  of  the  national  cause,  would  be  a  requital  not  inappropriate,  and  would  do 
as  much  to  restore  an  era  of  good  feeling  and  sterKng  loyalty  as  any  measure  that  could 
be  taken  to  that  end.* 

OFFICIAL  HISTORY  AND   DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VIRGINIA  CANAL. 

In  pursuance  of  suggestions  proceeding  from  the  West,  Mr.  Charles  S.  Carrington, 
president  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  has  requested  Mr.  Edward  Lor- 
raine, the  able  chief  engineer  of  the  works  of  that  company,  to  prepare  a  report  of 
leading  facts  relating  to  the  important  canal  with  which  he  is  connected.  This  task 
has  been  very  ably  and  satisfactorily  performed  by  that  competent  officer,  in  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  and  instructive  paper  : 

Office  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company, 

Hichmond,  June  10,  1868. 
Sir  :  At  your  request,  and  with  a  view  of  furnishing  reliable  information  to  persons 
who  feel  interested  in  the  completion  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  and  of 
supplying  data  by  which  the  superiority  of  this  route  over  all  others  as  a  means  of 
transportation  of  Western  products  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  may  be  demonstrated,  I 
have  prepared  the  following  historical  and  statistical  sketch  of  this  improvement,  to 
which  I  have  added  some  suggestions  as  to  the  best  plan  for  its  completion,  with  esti- 
mates of  its  probable  cost.  I  propose  simply  to  collect  together  all  the  interesting 
statistics  which  now  lie  scattered  through  a  vast  number  of  reports  and  documents,  and 
combine  them  in  one  comprehensive  paper,  which  may  serve  as  a  text  book  and  maga- 
zine of  facts  for  those  seeking  information  on  this  subject. 

*  la  compiling  the  foregoing  pages,  much  information  has  heen  drawn  from  the  admirable  report  of 
Mr.  Elmore  H.  Walker,  on  the  trade  and  commerce  of  Buffalo,  and  from  writings  of  Professor  Sylvester 
Waterhouse,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  Thos.  M.  Monroe,  of  Dubuque. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


An  act  for  clearing  and  improving  the  navigation  of  James  River  was  passed  by  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1786.  By  this  act  the  first  or  old  James 
River  Company  was  incorporated.  They  were  required  to  make  the  river  navigable 
for  vessels  drawing  one  foot  of  water  at  least,  from  the  highest  place  practicable  to  the 
great  falls  beginning  at  Westham,  and  from  said  falls  to  make  such  canal  or  canals  with 
sufficient  locks,  as  would  open  navigation  to  tide  water.  This  organization  continued 
until  the  17th  day  of  February,  1820,  on  which  day  the  legislature  passed  an  act  to 
amend  the  "Act  for  clearing  and  improving  the  navigation  of  James  River,  and  for 
uniting  the  eastern  and  western  waters  by  the  James  and  Kanawha  Rivers."  By  this 
act  the  rights  and  interest  of  the  James  River  Company  were  transferred  to  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  by  an  act  passed  February  24,  1823,  all  the  rights,  power,  duties,  and 
privileges  of  the  president  and  directors  were  conferred  on  the  board  of  public  works, 
whose  transactious  were  to  be  still  in  the  name  of  the  James  River  Company.  This 
organization  continued  until  the  year  1835. 

The  old  James  River  Company  constructed  a  canal  around  the  falls  of  James  River, 
extending  from  the  city  of  Richmond  to  "Westham,  a  distance  of  about  seven  miles,  and 
improved  the  bed  of  the  river  by  sluices  as  high  up  as  Buchanan. 

The  second  James  River  Company,  on  State  account,  enlarged  and  reconstructed  the 
former  canal  from  Richmond  to  Westham.  and  extended  the  same  to  Maiden's  Adven- 
ture, in  Goochland  County,  a  distance  of  27  miles ;  constructed  a  canal  through  the 
Blue  Ridge  seven  and  a  half  miles  long ;  constructed  a  turnpike  road  from  Covington 
to  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy  River,  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  long,  and  improved 
the  Kanawha  River  by  wing  dams  and  sluices  from  Charleston  to  its  mouth,  a  distance 
of  58  miles. 

The  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company  was  incorporated  March  16,  1832,  and  or- 
ganized May  25,  1835.  By  the  charter  the  whole  interest  of  the  Commonwealth  in  the 
works  and  property  of  the  then  existing  James  River  Companj^  was  transferred  to  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company ;  the  State  being  interested  in  the  latter  to  the 
extent  of  three-fifths  of  its  capital  stock,  and  individuals  and  corporations  to  the  extent 
of  the  remaining  two-fifths. 

The  works  of  the  James  River  Company  were  valued  at  $1,000,000,  the  State  receiv- 
ing a  credit  for  that  amount  in  part  of  her  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company.  The  new  company,  moreover,  was  charged  with 
the  payment  of  the  annuity  of  $21,000  forever  to  the  stockholders  of  the  old  James 
River  Company;  and  as  this  sum  is  equivalent  to  a  principal  of  $350,000,  at  six  per 
cent,  interest,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  present  company  took  the  old  works  at  the  price 
of  $1,350,000. 

The  construction  of  the  new  canal  from  Richmond  to  Lynchburg  was  commenced  in 
1836,  and  the  work  v/as  completed  about  the  1st  of  December,  1840. 

In  that  time  the  work  of  construction  of  the  second  division  of  the  canal  above 
Lynchburg  was  commenced  and  prosecuted  up  to  the  year  1842,  when  for  want  of  funds 
it  was  abandoned.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1847,  an  appropriation  of  $1,246,000  was  made 
by  the  legislature  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  unfinished  worli  between  Lynch- 
burg and  North  River,  and  the  extension  and  completion  of  the  canal  to  Buchanan. 

The  work  was  commenced  in  July,  1847,  and  completed  in  November,  1851. 

Fifteen  miles  of  the  third  division  of  the  canal,  next  above  Buchanan,  was  put  under 
contract  in  August,  1853,  but  for  want  of  funds  the  work  was  suspended  in  the  fall  of 
1856.  The  work  done  on  this  portion  of  the  line  consisted  chiefly  of  stone  locks,  aque- 
ducts, and  tunneling. 

The  original  capital  of  the  company  was  $5,000,000,  of  which  the  State  paid  $1,000,000 
in  old  works,  and  of  the  private  subscriptton  there  proved  to  be  insolvent  $73,336,  leav- 
ing 83,926,664  as  the  actual  available  cash  capital.  All  beyond  the  capital  thus  realized 
has  been  money  either  borrowed  directly  from  the  State  treasury  or  on  bonds  guaran- 
teed by  the  State,  on  which  the  company  has  been  required  to  pay  interest  from  the 
day  it  was  received,  before  it  was  expended,  and  of  course  long  before  it  began  to  yield 
any  return. 

The  actual  cost  of  construction  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  including 
the  incomplete  works  above  Buchanan,  has  been  as  follows : 

Lock  and  tide-water  connection   $851,312 

First  division — Richmond  to  Lynchburg   6,837,628 

South  Side  connections   162,685 

Rivanna  connection   115,043 

Second  division — Lynchburg  to  Buchanan.   2,422,556 

North  River  improvement   536,551 

Third  division,  work  done   511,094 


Total 


10,436,869 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


53 


The  money  expended  in  the  construction  of  works,  over  and  above  the  amount  of  the 
cash  capital,  which,  as  stated,  was  borrowed  directly  or  indirectly  from  the  State,  to- 
gether with  the  accrued  interest,  amounted  in  the  year  1860  to  about  $7,200,000,  which 
sum.  was  assumed  as  the  debt  due  by  the  company  to  the  State. 

Under  this  heavy  load  of  debt,  with  its  whole  property  under  a  lien  to  the  State,  it  was 
impossible  for  the  company  to  make  any  further  progress  with  its  works. 

To  relieve  the  company  from  its  embarrassment  and  to  enable  it  to  complete  the  canal 
to  Covington,  the  Legislature,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1860,  passed  an  "  act  to  amend  the 
charter  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,"  by  which  the  capital  stock  of  the 
company  was  increased  to  $12,400,000,  in  shares  of  $100  each,  and  the  board  of  public 
works  was  directed  to  subscribe,  on  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  addition  to  the 
shares  now  owned  by  the  State  in  said  company,  for  74,000  shares  of  said  capital  stock, 
which  shall  be  declared  by  said  company  a  six  per  cent,  preferred  stock,  on  which  $6 
per  share  shall  be  paid  to  the  holders  thereof  before  any  dividend  shall  be  paid  on 
other  stock  of  said  company ;  whereof  72,000  shares  shall  be  taken  in  full  satisfac- 
tion of  the  debt  now  due  from  the  said  company  to  the  State,  and  for  the  assumption  by 
the  State  of  the  debt  for  which  the  State  is  bound  as  the  surety  for  said  company,  and 
the  annuity  to  the  old  James  River  Company  ;  and  for  the  residue  of  2,000  shares,  the 
bonds  of  the  State  for  the  aggregate  amount  of  $200,000  are  to  be  delivered  to  the  com- 
pany, to  be  applied  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  floating  debt  of  the  company.  The 
company  was  also  authorized  to  borrow  money  at  a  rate  of  interest  not  exceeding  seven 
per  cent,  per  annum,  and  not  exceeding  $2,500,000,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the 
canal  to  Covington.  The  company  being  thus  relieved  of  its  indebtedness  to  the  State, 
and  released  from  the  lien  upon  its  property,  was  placed  in  a  condition  by  which  it  was 
hoped  and  believed  if  would  be  enabled  to  borrow  money  sufficient  to  complete  the 
canal  to  Covington. 

About  this  time  a  French  gentleman,  representing  a  company  of  European  capitalists, 
and  vouched  for  by  the  French  consul  in  Richmond,  proposed  to  enter  into  an  engage- 
ment for  completing  the  canal  to  the  Ohio  River  on  an  enlarged  scale.  His  propositions, 
after  protracted  consideration,  were  acceded  to  by  the  company,  and  the  requisite 
legislation  was  obtained  from  the  State.  The  civil  war  intervened  to  prevent  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  provisions  of  this  engagement,  which  was  finally  abandoned  in  the  spring 
of  1867. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1867,  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  authorizing  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Compan^^  "to  borrow  the  sum  of  $750,000,  to  be  applied  to 
paying  off"  the  floating  debt  of  the  company,  putting  aud  keeping  its  present  works  in  re- 
pair, and  to  give  a  mortgage  on  the  property,  franchises,  and  net  revenues  of  the  compa- 
ny for  the  purpose  of  securing  such  loan." 

A  committee  of  the  stockholders,  at  their  called  meeting  in  March,  1867,  reported  the 
floating  debt  of  the  company  to  be  about  $622,480.  For  the  purpose  of  liquidating  this 
debt,  the  board  of  directors  have  issued  the  six  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  company,  payable 
in  twenty  years  from  their  date,  and  have  executed  a  mortgage  conveying  the  property, 
franchises,  and  net  revenues  of  the  company  in  trust  to  secure  the  said  bonds. 

Up  to  this  time  about  $410,000  of  the  floating  debt  of  the  company  has  been  paid  in 
cash,  or  funded  in  the  mortgage  bonds,  leaving  about  $240,000  still  to  be  adjusted,  and  it 
is  hoped  that  in  a  short  time  the  whole  debt  will  be  liquidated. 

Having  thus  briefly  related  the  history,  affairs,  and  condition  of  the  company  up  to  the 
present  time,  I  now  proceed  to  give 

A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VIRGINIA  WATER  LINE. 

Tbe  Virginia  water  line  extends  from  the  capes  of  Virginia  to  the  Ohio  River,  a  dis- 
tance of  636  miles,  and  consists  of — 

I. 

The  James  River  from  its  mouth  te  the  head  of  navigation,  at  the  city  of  Richmond,  a 
distance  of  151  miles ;  and — 

II. 

The  James  River  and  Kanawha  improvement,  extending  from  the  city  of  Richmond  to 
Point  Pleasant,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  River,  a  distance  of  485  miles. 

James  River  is  navigable  for  ships  of  one  thousand  tons  burden,  drawing  sixteen  feet, 
from  its  mouth  to  City  Point,  36  miles  below  Richmond,  and  at  an  inconsiderable  ex- 
pense, by  dredging,  the  ^.channel  can  be  excavated  so  as  to  admit  vessels  of  that  draught 
up  to  the  wharves  of  the  city. 

The  James  River  and  Kanawha  improvement,  for  the  purpose  of  description,  will  be 
divided  into — 


54 


JAMES  RIVER  AlTD  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


Miles. 

1st.  The  Richmond  dock  and  tide  water  connection   1.00 

2d.  The  first  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Richmond  to  Lynchburg. .  146.50 
3d.  The  second  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan  50.00 
4:th.  The  third  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Buchanan  to  Covington. .  47.00 
5th.  The  fourth  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Covington  to  the  Green- 
brier River   33.43 

6th.  The  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  to  Lyken's  Shoals  on  the  Kanawha   123.  21 

7th.  The  Kanawha  River  from  Lyken's  Shoals  to  the  Ohio  River   85.12 

First.  The  Richmond  dock  and  tide  water  connection.  By  means  of  this  improvement 
vessels  ascend  from  the  river  into  the  dock,  where  they  are  met  by  canal-boats  which 
descend  from  the  basin  at  the  terminus  of  the  canal,  and  lie  alongside  the  vessels  for  the 
purpose  of  exchanging  cargoes  ;  or  the  canal-boats  can  descend  to  the  river,  and,  with- 
out breaking  bulk,  be  towed  to  City  Point  or  to  Norfolk. 

Vessels  enter  the  dock  by  means  of  a  ship  lock,  which  is  founded  upon  solid  rock,  and 
built  of  the  most  substantial  cut  granite.  It  is  180  feet  long  between  the  gates,  35  feet 
wide,  has  a  lift  of  15  feet,  and  16  feet  water  on  the  miter  sill.  It  will  pass  vessels  of 
600  tons. 

The  dock  is  4,100  feet  long  from  the  ship  lock  to  Seventeenth  street,  and  has  a  con 
tinuous  wharf,  protected  by  a  granite  wall,  for  its  whole  length  on  the  north  side,  and  for 
about  1,000  feet  on  the  south  side.  The  depth  is  from  11  to  15  feet,  and  the  average 
width  100  feet.  Above  Seventeenth  street  is  a  continuation  called  "  the  upper  dock," 
which  is  also  surrounded  by  a  substantial  granite  wall,  and  is  made  accessible  to  small 
class  vessels  by  means  of  a  pivot  bridge  across  the  line  of  Seventeenth  street  extended. 
This  upper  portion  is  800  feet  long  and  200  feet  wide.  At  its  upper  extremity  is  the 
depot  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad. 

The  dock  is  connected  with  the  basin  by  means  of  five  locks,  having  an  aggregate  lift 
of  69  feet. 

These  locks  are  built  of  hewn  granite,  and  with  the  ship  lock,  in  their  style  and  finish, 
will  compare  favorably  with  any  similar  works  in  this  country. 

The  total  cost  of  the  dock  and  tide-water  connection  has  been  $851,312.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1854. 

Second.  The  first  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  the  basin  in  Richmond  to  the 
city  of  Lynchburg,  comprising  137f  miles  of  canals,  and  8|  miles  of  slack-water  navi- 
gation. 

The  trunk  of  the  canal  is  30  feet  wide  at  the  bottom  and  50  feet  wide  at  the  w^aterline, 
and  was  originally  cut  to  a  depth  of  5  feet.  The  tow  path  is  12  feet  wide  and  the  berm 
bank  8  feet. 

The  locks  are  100  feet  long  between  the  gates  and  15  feet  wide  in  the  chamber.  The 
total  lockage,  from  the  Basin  in  Richmond  to  Lynchburg,  is  429  feet.  The  works  of  art 
on  the  first  division  consist  of  52  lift  locks,  having  a  total  lift  of  429  feet ;  6  guard  locks; 
2  accommodation  locks ;  3  principal  dams  across  James  River,  affording  slack-water 
navigation  ;  9  other  dams  across  James  River  ;  or  to  islands  in  the  river,  which  serve  as 
feeders  to  the  canal,  or  for  connection  with  the  south  side  of  the  river ;  11  aqueducts, 
three  of  which  have  wooden  trunks  and  the  remainder  are  of  cut  stone  ;  191  culverts  ; 
133  farm  and  road  bridges  over  the  canal,  and  3  tow-path  bridges.  Of  the  locks  22 
are  built  of  cut  stone  and  the  remainder  of  rubble  masonry,  faced  with  timber  and 
plank. 

This  division  of  the  canal  has  cost  $5,837,628,  or  $39,982  per  mile. 

On  the  first  division  are  works  connecting  the  canal  with  the  south  side  of  James  River, 
usually  called  the  "  southside  connections."  These  works  are  a  dam  and  an  outlet  lock 
at  Cartersville,  and  three  bridges  ;  one  at  New  Canton,  one  at  Hardwicksville,  and  one 
at  Bent  Creek.  The  wooden  superstructures  of  the  bridges  were  burned  during  the  late 
war.  They  were  built  upon  cut  stone  abutments  and  piers,  which  remain  uninjured. 
The  total  cost  of  the  southside  connections  has  been  $162,685, 

There  is  also  a  connection  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  with  the  improvement  of  the 
Rivanna  River,  an  important  tributary  to  the  canal,  which  has  cost  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  Company  the  sum  of  $115,043. 

Third.  The  second  division  of  the  canal  extends  from  the  city  of  Lynchburg  to  the 
town  of  Buchanan,  a  distance  of  50  miles,  and  consists  of  22  miles  of  canal  and  28  miles 
of  slack  water  navigation.    The  principal  works  of  art  on  this  division  are  : 

Thirty-eight  locks,  having  a  total  lift  of  299  feet,  built  with  a  few  exceptions  of  cut 
stone  ;  4  stone  dams  and  6  timber  dams  across  James  River ;  one  aqueduct  of  50  feet 
span ;  8  culverts  ;  48  square  drains  ;  17  tow-path  bridges,  and  two  farm  bridges.  It  was 
completed  in  the  year  1850,  and  has  cost  $2,422,566,  or  $48,451  per  mile. 

Connected  with  the  second  division  is  the  North  River  improvement,  extending  from 
the  mouth  of  North  River  to  the  town  of  Lexington,  a  distance  of  19|  miles.  Of  this 
improvement  10  miles  are  canal  and  9|  miles  are  slack-water  navigation.  The  principal 
works  of  art  are,  22  locks,  all  of  rubble  masonry,  and  of  the  same  size  as  those  on 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


55 


the  main  line  of  the  canal,  and  having  a  total  lift  of  188  feet ;  9  stone  dams  and  one 
timber  dam  across  North  River,  and  4  aqueducts.  This  work  was  completed  in  the 
year  1860,  and  cost  $536,551. 

Fourth.  The  third  division  of  the  canal  follows  the  valley  of  the  James  and  Jackson 
Rivers  from  Buchanan  to  Covington,  a  distance  of  47  miles. 

This  division  has  been  definitively  located,  and  the  first  15  miles  above  Buchanan  was 
put  under  contract  in  the  year  1853,  but  for  the  want  of  funds  the  work  was  suspended 
in  1856. 

Forty-one  miles  are  canal,  and  six  miles  slack- water  navigation.  The  total  lockage 
436f  feet. 

The  principal  mechanical  structures  are  36  lift  locks,  two  guard  locks,  one  guard  and 
lift  lock,  five  aqueducts  across  James  River,  each  about  320  feet  long,  3  aqueducts  of 
50  feet  span,  and  3  dams  across  James  River.  There  are  also  the  Marshall  tunnel  1,900 
feet  long,  and  the  Mason  tunnel,  198  feet  long,  by  means  of  which  5|  miles  of  distance 
are  saved. 

Of  this  work  there  are  nearly  completed  ten  lift  locks,  and  the  abutments  and  piers 
of  three, of  the  aqueducts,  across  James  River.  The  foundations  of  two  of  the  dams, 
up  to  the  surface  of  low  water,  have  been  put  in ;  about  800  feet  of  the  Marshall  tun- 
nel have  been  excavated,  and  the  Mason  tunnel  is  completed.  The  mechanical  work  on 
this  division  is  executed  in  the  best  style, and  of  the  most  substantial  materials,  all  of 
the  structures  being  built  of  hewn  limestone,  laid  with  hydraulic  cement. 

Fifth.  The  fourth  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  the  town  of  Covington  to 
the  Greenbrier  River,  a  distance  of  33J  miles. 

At  Covington  the  canal  crosses  Jackson  River  by  an  aqueduct,  and  follows  the  valley 
of  Dunlap's  Creek  to  Crow's  Tavern,  at  the  base  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  a  dis- 
tance of  17^  miles. 

At  Crow's  the  line  of  the  canal  leaves  the  valley  of  Dunlap's  Creek,  and  following  the 
bed  of  Fork  Run,  ascends  the  eastern  side  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain,  by  a  series  of 
locks  and  dams,  to  the  summit. 

The  distance  from  Covington  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Alleghany  tunnel  is  20.7 
miles,  and  the  total  lockage  is  675  feet. 

The  summit  level  is  4^  miles  long,  1,921  feet  above  tide-water,  and  pierces  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountain  by  a  tunnel  2  6-10  miles  long. 

Emerging  from  the  west(M-n  side  of  the  mountain  the  canal  descends  by  the  valleys 
of  Tuckahoe  and  Howard's  Creeks,  241  feet  in  a  distance  of  ten  miles,  to  the  Green- 
brier River. 

The  summit  level,  and  tlsc  l  Ortion  of  the  canal  on  each  side  of  it  between  Dunlap's 
Creek  and  the  Greenbrier  River,  a  distance  of  15^  miles,  will  be  supplied  with  water 
chiefly  from  Anthony's  Creek.  Upon  this  creek  a  reservoir  is  to  be  made  covering  2,753 
acres  of  land,  and  having  an  average  depth  of  60  feet,  from  which  the  water  will  be 
conducted  by  a  feeder  canal,  about  9  miles  long,  to  the  summit  level. 

Sixth.  The  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  from  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek  to  Ly- 
ken's  Shoals  on  the  Kanawha,  a  distance  of  123  miles. 

From  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek  to  the  Ohio  River,  the  character  of  the  improve- 
ment will  be  changed.  The  line  that  we  have  been  heretofore  occupied  with  from 
Richmond  to  the  Greenbrier  River  is  to  consist  of  a  canal.  The  line  down  the  Green- 
brier, New,  and  Kanawhn  Rivers,  will  consist  of  a  slack-water  and  sluice  improvement 
of  those  rivers  for  steamhont  mwigation,  and  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek,  or  what  is 
known  as  "  Greenbrier  Bridge,"  will  be  either  the  point  of  transshipment  from  steam- 
boats and  barges  to  canal-boats,  or  the  point  where  canal-boats,  having  been  towed  up 
by  steamboats,  will  change  sieam  power  for  horse  power,  and  vice  versa. 

1st.  Greenbrier  River  from  Greenbrier  Bridge  to  New  River,  a  distance  of  49.62 
miles.    Lockage  316  feet. 

2d.  New  River  to'Lyken's  Shoals  on  the  Kanawha,  a  distance  of  73.59  miles.  Lock- 
age 766  feet. 

The  surveys  of  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  have  not  been  so  elaborate  nor  so  exact 
as  those  of  other  parts  of  the  line,  but  they  have  been  sufficient  to  obtain  a  correct 
profile,  and  the  general  character  of  the  beds  of  the  streams,  and  to  establish  beyond 
any  doubt  the  practicability  of  their  improvement.  Of  the  practicability  of  their 
improvement  we  may  feel  well  assured  by  the  concurrent  opinions  of  Benjamin  Wright, 
Edward  H.  Gill,  and  Charles  B.  Fisk,  three  eminent  practical  hydraulic  engineers. 
Judge  Wright,  after  acquiring  practical  experience  and  high  reputation  on  the  Erie 
Canal,  was  selected  as  the  first  and  chief  engineer  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Company.  In  his  letter  to  the  board  of  directors,  published  in  the  seventh  annual 
report,  page  73,  he  says :  "From  the  facts  disclosed  by  the  survey  on  the  lines  of  the 
Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  difficulties  of  improving  these 
rivers  have  heretofore  been  overrated,  and  that  the  plans  proposed  for  that  purpose  are 
both  practical  and  expedient." 

Mr.  Fisk,  the  late  eminent  chief  engineer  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  has 


mm  mm  ahd  eamawsa  oakal* 


also  personally  examined  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Eiversj  and  approved  of  the  proposed 
plan  for  their  improvement. 

Mr.  Gill,  who  made  the  survey  of  these  rivers,  in  his  report  of  the  surveyj  published 
in  the  seventh  annual  report,  page  65,  says:  "Nature  has  with  a  prohfic  hand,  within 
these  rockbound  shores,  furnished  all  the  elements  for  the  construction  of  a  cheap  and 
permanent  improvement,  consisting  of  locks  and  dams,  sites  for  the  erection  of  which, 
of  the  most  desirable  description,  and  materials  of  the  best  quality  for  their  construc- 
tion, are  distributed  along  the  entire  route  in  profusion.  And  feeling  confident  that 
the  latter  description  of  improvement  is  the  most  permanent  and  economical  that  can 
be  adopted  on  this  stream,  I  recommend  it." 

I  have  estimated  this  section  of  the  improvement  from  Mr.  Gill's  notes  of  the  width 
and  fall  of  the  rivers,  and  have  provided  for  locks  and  dams  built  of  stone,  and  adapted 
to  steamers  of  350  tons. 

Seventh.  The  Kanawha  River,  from  Lyken's  Shoals  to  its  mouth,  a  distance  of  85 
miles,  falls  feet. 

Various  plans  have  been  recommended  for  the  improvement  of  the  Kanawha ;  but 
as  the  improvement  by  sluices  has  been  proved  to  be  practicable,  is  by  far  the  cheapest, 
the  least  liable  to  accidents  from  freshets,  and  presents  the  advantages  of  an  open, 
unobstructed  navigation,  I  have  adopted  it  as  the  basis  of  my  estimate. 

PRACTICABILITY  OF  THE  ROUTE. 

Before  presenting  my  estimates  of  its  cost,  it  will  be  proper  to  express  some  views  in 
regard  to  the  practicability  of  the  water  line.  The  only  points,  I  believe,  about  which 
any  doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  route,  have  been  the 
improvement  of  New  River  and  the  summit  level.  As  to  New  River,  I  have  already 
given  the  testimony  and  opinion  of  three  practical  hydraulic  engineers,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  I  can  add  anything  that  can  strengthen,  nor  do  I  think  that  the  crude,  off- 
hand,  superficial  views  of  unprofessional  persons  ought  to  weaken,  the  confidence  that 
the  opinions  of  these  eminent  engineers  should  impart  to  the  public.  I  will  therefore 
pass  on  to  the  summit  level. 

The  only  doubts,  I  believe,  that  have  been  expressed  in  regard  to  the  practicability 
of  this  part  of  the  line  have  been  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  supply  of  water  ;  and  as 
but  few  persons  have  taken  the  trouble  to  inform  themselves  on  this  subject,  it  will  be 
proper  here  to  explain  more  fully  the  plan  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  supply  the  summit 
level  with  water,  and  to  demonstrate  its  practicability  and  its  sufficiency. 

It  is  proposed  to  supply  the  summit  level  with  water  from  Anthony's  Creek,  a  tribu- 
tary to  the  Greenbrier.  "Where  that  stream  passes  through  the  Greenbrier  Mountain 
there  is  a  narrow  defile,  which  has  been  selected  as  a  site  for  a  dam  or  mound,  which, 
when  erected,  will  arrest  the  water  that  flows  down  the  creek  and  convert  the  valley 
above  into  a  reservoir  or  lake.  This  reservoir  will  be  nine  miles  long,  will  have  an 
average  width  of  half  a  mile,  a  superficial  area  of  2,753  acres,  and  a  mean  depth  of  60 
feet.  The  mound  will  be  126  feet  high  and  395  feet  long.  The  reservoir  will  contain 
178,000,000  cubic  yards  of  water,  which  was  ascertained  by  an  accurate  survey  of  its 
superficial  area ;  after  which  cross-sections  of  its  depth  were  taken  at  every  consider- 
able variation  in  the  ground,  v/ith  the  angles  of  the  hill-side  at  every  station  of  100 
feet.  The  reservoir  was  thus  divided  into  a  number  of  fields,  the  superficial  and  cubic 
contents  of  which  were  separately  calculated.  In  order  to  utilize  this  immense  body 
of  water,  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  mountain  ridge  that  separates  the  southern  border 
of  the  lake  from  the  valley  of  Howard's  Creek  shall  be  pierced  by  a  tunnel  two  and  a 
half  miles  long.  The  level  of  the  bottom  of  this  tunnel  will  be  thirty  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  water  in  the  lake.  It  passes  for  its  entire  length  through  a  black  slate- 
rock  of  easy  excavation,  and  as  it  will  be  necessary  to  be  made  only  just  large  enough 
to  be  advantageously  worked,  it  cannot  be  considered  an  obstacle  of  any  importance. 
After  passing  through  this  tunnel,  the  v/ater  from  the  reservoir  will  fiow  down  the  bed 
of  Dry  Creek,  and  at  the  narrow  gorge  where  it  enters  into  the  valley  of  the  North 
Fork  of  Howard's  Creek,  a  dam  300  feet  long  and  20  feet  high  will  be  constructed  to 
stop  the  water  and  turn  it  through  a  tunnel  200  yards  long  into  the  valley  of  the  Middle 
Fork  of  Howard's  Creek,  after  which  it  will  be  conducted  by  a  feeder  canal  two  and 
eight-tenths  of  a  mile  long  to  the  summit  level. 

It  will  be  observed  that  as  this  feeder  tunnel  is  located  on  a  level  thirty  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  lake,  it  is  proposed  to  use  only  the  upper  thirty  feet  of  the  water, 
which  will  be  the  quantity  that  will  be  available  for  feeding  purposes,  and  which  has 
been  ascertained  to  be  109,189,130  cubic  yards. 

The  annual  quantity  of  water  discharged  by  Anthony's  Creek  has  been  ascertained 
by  daily  gauges  of  the  creek  for  a  whole  year,  and  is  stated  in  the  following 

Table  of  the  quantity  of  water  discharged  by  Anthony's  Creek  in  one  year. 

Cubic  yards. 

January   11,649,673 

February  ,   40,628,408 

March   38,455,285 

AprU  c   45,333,023 


JAMES  RIVEB  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


61 


Cubic  Yards. 

May..  *.   13,262,939 

June   19,208,005 

July   4,586,482 

August   T,071,220 

September  

October   780,491 

November   6,963,657 

December   21,393,063 

Total,  per  annum   210,526,955 

Average  discharge  per  diem,  cubic  yards  -.   576,786 

These  gauges  of  the  creek  were  taken  during  the  last  half  of  the  year  1851,  and  the 
first  half  of  the  year  1852,  during  which  time  the  quantity  of  rain  as  ascertained  by 
the  rain  guages,  which  were  kept  in  that  vicinity,  was  34^  inches.  The  average  down- 
fall of  that  year  and  the  preceding  four  years  was  36.4  inches,  and  the  maximum  in 
1847-48  was  39.5  inches.  So  the  quantity  of  rain  that  fell  during  the  year  the  creek 
was  guagcd  was  considerably  below  the  average,  and  we  will  therefore  be  within 
the  mark  if  we  assume  576,786  cubic  yards  as  the  average  daily  supply. 

I  consider  this  the  actual  available  s\ipply  from  the  creek,  and  make  no  deduction 
for  evaporation  or  liltration  from  the  reservoir,  because  the  surface  of  ground  covered 
by  the  reservoir  is  greater  than  the  surface  of  the  reservoir,  and  was  subject  to  evapo- 
ration while  the  gauges  of  the  creek  were  being  taken,  and  the  flow  of  the  creek  was 
diminished  by  the  quantity  evaporated  from  that  surface,  and  there  could  be  no  leak- 
age, filtration  and  absorption  in  the  reservoir,  except  through  the  mound,  because  after 
the  water  has  passed  through  and  saturated  the  thin  overlaying  stratum'of  soil,  it  would 
reach  the  impenetrabJe  rock,  and  there  it  would  have  to  stop;  there  could  be  no 
further  absorption  or  filtration.  The  filtration  through  the  mound,  if  it  was  properly 
made  and  puddled,  would  be  so  slight  as  to  be  unworthy  Of  notice.  But  after  the  water 
has  left  the  reservoir  it  will  pass  over  six  miles  of  branch  and  canal,  from  which  there 
would  be  evaporation  and  filtration.  I  will,  then,  allow  that  this  six  miles  of  feeder 
will  lose  the  whole  of  its  prism  of  water  once  in  every  fifteen  days,  and  assuming  its 
area  of  cross  section  at  64  square  feet,  estimate  the  quantity  thus  lost  at  5,006  cubic 
yards  per  diem,  which  .deducted  from  576,786  cubic  yards,  will  leave  571,780  cubic  yards 
as  the  actual  supply  for  feeding  the  canal. 

As  doubts  had  been  suggested  as  to  the  adaptation  of  this  valley  for  the  purposes  of 
a  reservoir,  and  vague  surmises  expressed  as  to  fissures  and  caverns  in  the  sides  of  the 
mountain  through  which  the  water  would  leak  out,  an  eminent  practical  geologist 
was  employed  to  make  an  examinantion  of  the  geological  structure  of  the  site  of  this 
reservoir,  who  reported  that  "  if  the  engineers  had  the  choice  of  the  rocks  of  this  region, 
it  would  be  dfncult  to  show  how  they  could  make  a  better  disposition  of  them;"  and 
he  also  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  building  a  dam  across  the  gorge  of  the  mountain 
would  reproduce  the  conditions  that  once  existed,  as  there  was  abundant  evidence  to 
prove  that  the  valley  had  been  once  occupied  by  a  lake,  which  had  subsequently,  by  a 
disruption  of  the  mountain,  escaped  through  the  gorge. 

Having  now  ascertained  the  quantity  of  water  afibrded  by  the  creek,  and  the  fact 
that  it  can  be  made  available,  the  next  step  is  to  determine  the  quantity  that  will  be 
needed  for  the  use  of  the  canal,  and  to  see  whether  the  supply  will  be  equal  to  the 
demand. 

The  whole  length  of  the  canal  to  be  supplied  entirely  by  this  reservoir  is  that  portion 
between  the  point  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  summit  where  Duulap's  Creek  is  taken  in 
as  a  feeder,  and  the  point  on  the  western  side  of  the  summit  where  Howard's  Creek  is 
taken  in  as  a  feeder,  a  distance  of  about  nine  miles. 

After  the  prism  of  the  canal  shall  have  been  filled,  the  yearly  supply  which  will  be 
demanded  from  the  reservoir  will  be  a  quantity  sufficient  to  supply  the  loss  by  leakage 
through  the  locks,  and  filtration  and  evaporation  from  the  canal,  and  the  quantity 
consumed  in  the  passage  of  the  boats  through  the  locks  at  the  summit  level.  In  ex* 
perinicnts  made  by  Mr.  Fisk  on  tfie  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  the  loss  by  leakage 
through  the  locks,  which  were  100  feet  long  and  15  feet  wide,  amounted  to  62  cubic  feet 
per  minute,  and  the  monthly  loss  on  the  same  canal  fi-om  evaporation  and  filtration 
was  about  twice  the  quantity  of  water  contained  in  it.  As  the  locks  proposed  for  the 
summit  level  of  our  canal  will  be  #t  least  120  feet  long  by  20  wide,  the  proportional 
quantity  to  be  allowed  for  leakage  through  them  would  be  about  11)0  cubic  feet  per 
minute,  and  the  loss  by  evaporation  and  filtration  from  a  canal  70  feet  wide  and  7  feet 
deep,  would  be  96  cubic  feet  per  minute  per  mile.  That  portion  of  the  canal  occupied 
by  the  tunnel,  being  through  solid  rock,  will  be  subject  to  no  more  loss  by  leakage  and 
evaporation  than  will  be  supplied  by  precolation  through  the  roof  and  sides  of  the 
tunnel,  and  this  is  therefore  excluded  from  this  calculation  ;  leaving  the  entire  length 
of  the  canal  subject  to  filtration  and  evaporation  six  and  a  half  miles, 
&  • 


JAIVIES  EME  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


The  total  loss  then  by  leakage,  filtrcation,  and  evaporation,  would  be  724  cubic  feet 
per  minute,  or  1,042,560  cubic  feet  per  diem. 

In  making  the  estimate  of  the  quantity  of  water  that  will  be  consumed  in  passing 
the  boats  through  the  locks,  let  us  assume  that  the  canal  will  enjoy  a  full  trade,  and 
that  the  boats  will  pass  through  the  locks  at  the  summit  as  fast  as  possible.  The  aver- 
age time  of  a  boat  passing  a  lock  of  10  feet  lift  is  about  six  minutes,  or  240  per  diem. 
Assuming  a  full  trade,  we  must  also  assume  a  fair  alternation  of  boats  passing  the 
summit  level;  if  one  boat  succeed  another,  each,  boat  will  consume  two  lockfuls  of 
water  ;  if  two  boats  meet  on  the  summit,  each  boat  will  consume  one  lockful  of  water. 
It  will  therefore  be  fair  to  assmne  that  the  average  expenditure  of  water  for  boats 
passing  the  summit  level  will  be  1-|  prism  of  lift  for  each  boat,  or  360  prisms  of  lift 
per  diem,  which  for  locks  120  feet  long,  20  feet  wide,  and  10  feet  lift,  would  amount  to 
8,640,000  cubic  feet  per  diem :  add  to  this  quantity  1,042,060  cubic  feet,  the  quantity 
lost  by  leakage,  filtration,  and  evaporation,  and  we  have  9,682,560  cubic  feet,  or  358,613 
cubic  yards  per  diem,  as  the  quantity  of  v/ater  necessary  to  navigate  the  canal  with  a 
full  trade. 

Cubic  yards. 

"We  have  seen  that  Anthony's  Creek  will  afford  a  net  available  supply  per 

day  of   571,780 

And  that  the  quantity  required  for  the  use  of  the  canal  will  be,  per  day   358,616 


Leaving  a  surplus  for  contingencies  per  day  of   213,167 


This  surplus  is  amply  sufficient  to  cover  any  contingencies  or  objection  that  ingenuity 
may  suggest,  but  as  a  further  security  t]:iere  are  three  other  creeks,  viz  :  Little  Creek, 
Tuckahoe  Creek,  and  Howard's  Creek,  whose  united  volumes  amount  to  about  one-third 
of  Anthony-s  Creek,  which,  if  necessary,  could  be  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  canal. 

There  ought  not,  then,  to  rest  a  reasonable  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  candid,  sensible 
man,  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  investigate  this  subject,  as  to  the  practicability  of 
the  passage  of  the  Alleghany  by  canal,  or  as  to  the  sufiiciency  of  the  supply  of  water. 

No  pby?ical  difficulties  exist  that  cannot  be  overcome  by  money,  for  it  is  not  designed 
to  do  anything  that  has  not  already  been  done  scores  of  times,  both  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe. 

ESTIMATE  or  THE  COST  OF  COMPLETING   THE   JAMES  KITER.   AND    KANAWHA   CANAL  FROM 
BUCHANAN  TO  THE  OHIO  EIVER. 

In  making  up  this  estimate,  I  have  provided  for  a  canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Green- 
brier River  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  enlarged  Erie  Canal,  viz:  42  feet  wide  at  the 
bottom,  70  feet  at  the  water  surface,  and  with  a  depth  of  water  of  7  feet;  the  locks  to 
be  120  feet  long  between  the  gates,  and  20  feet  wide,  and  it  is  proper  to  state  that  the 
estimate  for  this  portion  of  the  work  is  based  upon  a  definitive  location,  and  accurate 
cross  sections  of  the  canal  for  the  w'hole  distance. 

The  estimate  for  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  is  for  steamboat  navigation,  with 
stone  dams  and  locks,  the  locks  to  be  200  feet  long  and  forty  feet  wide,  with  7  feet  depth 
of  water  ;  extending  to  Lyken's  Shoals  on  the  Kanawha,  where  sluice  navigation 
will  begin. 

ESTIMATE.  ' 


Miles. 

1.  From  Buchanan  to  Covington     47.27  $4,036,577 

2.  From  Covington  to  mouth  of  Fork  Run   17.37  2,206,795 

3.  From  mouth  of  Fork  Run  to  western  entrance  of  Alleghany 

tunnel  ( including  reservoir  and  feeders  )    6.03  5,077,736 

4.  From  western  end  of  AJleghany  tunnel  to  Greenbrier  River  9.93  1,709,517 

5.  The  Greenbrier  River  to  New  River  ■»   49.62  3,512,506 

'  6.  The  New  River  from  the  mouth  of  Greenbrier  to  Lyken's 

Shoals  on  the  Kanawha   73.59  9,091,537 

7.  Kanawha  River  from  Lyken's  Shoals  to  the  mouth  of  the 

Ohio  (sluice  improvement)   85.12  402,167 


Total  length  of  new  work   288:93 

Total  cost  from  Buchanan  to  the  Ohio  River.   26,036,836 


As  it  would  be  useless  to  construct  the  canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Ohio  River  on 
an  enlarged  scale  without  making  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  size  of  the  locks, 
and  in  the  depth  of  the  canal  from  Richmond  to  Buchanan,  I  have  made  an  estimate 


JAIVIES  KHTEU  AND  KAHAWHA  CANAL. 


59 


of  the  cost  of  building  new  locks  120x20  by  tbe  side  of  tlie  old  ones,  and  of  increasing 
the  depth  of  the  water  in  the  canal  to  7  feet,  which  is  presented  below  : 

Estimate  of  the  cost  of  douUmq  the  lochs  and  deepenhg  the  canal  to  seven  feet,  from  the 
iiichmond  dock  to  Buchanan, 


New  tide-water  connection  by  way  of  Haxall's  Mill   SSS^jQST 

Cost  of  doubling  locks  and  deepening  canal  from  Kichmond  to  Lynch- 
burg  2,091,504 

Cost  of  doubling  locks  and  deepening  canal  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan  1,502,900 


Total  cost  of  doubling  locks  and  deepening  canal  from  Eichmond  dock 

to  Buchanan   3,929,341 

Add  cost  of  new  canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Ohio  River   26,036,836 


Total  cost  of  completing  the  Virginia  water  line  =   29.966,177 


PROPOSED  XEW  PLAN  FOR  SUMillT  LEVEL. 

The  above  estimate  is  based  upon  a  location  of  the  summit  level,  both  as  to  elevation 
and  direction,  which  was  recommended  by  Captain  McNeil,  of  the  United  States  Topo- 
graphical Engineers,  in  1827,  and  has  never  since  been  changed.  Every  route  between 
the  head-waters  of  the  James  and  those  of  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Kivers,  that  gave 
any  j)romise  of  being  practicable,  has  be^sn  instrumentally  examined,  and  this  has 
proved  to  have  the  lowest  summit,  to  be  passable  at  the  same  elevation  with  the 
shortest  tunnel,  and  to  alford  an  abundant  supply  of  water  at  an  inconsiderable  ex- 
pense, 'i'here  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  superiority  of  this  route  over  all  others  ;  but 
there  may  be  some  question  as  to  the  most  judicious  elevation  for  the  summit  level. 
The  clioice  is  between  a  longer  tunnel  and  less  lockage,  and  a  shorter  tunnel  and  more 
lockage.  Of  course,  it  would  be  desirable  to  reduce  the  lockage  as  much  as  possible, 
boih  on  account  of  the  cost  of  attendance  and  the  annual  repairs  of  the  locks,  and  the 
time  that  would  be  consumed  in  passing  through  them.  With  that  view,  after  a  mature 
con^ideration  of  the  subject,  I  have  determined  to  recommend  a  change  in  the  plan  of 
passing  the  summit  level,  which,  although  more  costly,  I  consider  decidedly  preferable 
to  the  present  plan. 

I  propose  to  establish  the  summit  at  a  level  1,700  feet  above  tide,  or  20  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Greenbrier  River  at  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek,  and  pass  the  Alleghany 
Mountain  by  a  tunnel  about  nine  miles  long.  TTe  would  thus  dispense  with  220  feet  of 
lockage  on  each  side  of  the  summit,  and  with  44  locks  ;  Sc.ve  4  miles  in  distance,  and  7^ 
hours  in  time,  and  by  feeding  directly  from  the  Greenbrier  River,  be  enabled  to  pass  the 
summit  level  without  the  aid  of  reservoirs. 

Let  us  see  whether  these  advantages  will  be  purchased  at  too  great  a  cost : 


I  estimate  the  cost  of  a  tunnel  nine  miles  louse,  including  a  feeder  dam  on 

the  Greenbrier,  at  T.   $13,790,000 

From  which  deduct  the  estimated  cost  of  the  alternate  route  by  Howard's 
and  Tuckahoe  Creeks,  including  the  cost  of  Anthony's  Creek  reservoir 
and  feeder  \   6,392,266 


And  we  find  the  excess  of  cost  of  the  short  line  to  be   7,397,734 


To  determine  whether  the  company  will  be  justified  in  expending  this  large  sum  of 
money  for  the  purpose  of  shortening  the  distance  and  the  time  consumed  in  fockage,  it 
is  necessary  first  to  ascertain  the  capacity  and  probable  tonnage  of  the  canal  and  the  cost 
of  transportation. 

The  locks  will  admit  boats  about  108  feet  long  and  3  9  feet  wide,  -with  six  feet  draught 
of  water;  such_  boats  will  carry  at  kn-i  2- ')  tuns  ;  but  I  will  put  the  average  loads  at 
250  tons,  and  will  suppose  that  one  boat  \\\\\  i);:s>  through  the  lock,  in  every  7^-  minutes, 
or  192  boats  per  day  for  300  days,  and  obtain  14.300,000  tons  as  il.e  actual  capacity  of 
the  canal  Avith  a  full  trade.  It' would  be  fair,  tlibn,  to  assume  tlie  half  li  this  suni,  or 
say  7,000,000  tons,  as  the  probable  tonnage.  It  will  b'-  admitted  that  for  every  mile  we 
can  shorten  the  canal,  Ave  may  expend  a  capital  of  which  the  intere;>t  is  equal  to  the  an- 
nual expense  of  transporting  the  whole  tnnn.-.ge  over  thc^i:  mile. 

By  adopting  the  long  tunnel  line  v.  c  buve  lour  inik^,  in  actual  distance,  and  the  time 
consumed  in  passing  44  loc'.s,  whieli,  at  ^even  and  a  half  minutes  to  the  lock,  will 
amount  to  5^  hours,  equivalent  to  a  saving  of  eleven  miles  more,  or  a  total  saving  in  dis- 
tance of  15  miles.  Assuming  the  cost  oi  transportation  at  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  the 
passage  of  7,000,000  tons  over  15  miles  Avili  cost  8420,000,  to  which  add  the  annual  cost 
of  attendance  and  repairs  of  44  locks  at  f'GOO  per  annum  lor  each  lock,  826,400,  and  we 
have  §446,400  for  the  amount  saved  annually,  Avliich,  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  represents 


60 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


a  capital  of  $7,440,000,  which  is  the  amount  that  may  be  expended  to  save  a  distance  of 
15  miles.  So  that  if  the  tonnage  should  be  only  one-half  of  the  theoretical  capacity  of 
the  canal,  the  company  would  be  justified  in  incurring  the  increased  expense,  in  order  to 
have  a  shorter  and ,  better  line.* 

But  some  persons  may  object  to  so  long  a  tunnel.  For  my  part  I  cannot  see  any  ob- 
jections to  it;  but,  on  the  contrary,  see  everything  to  recommend  it.  About  its  practi- 
cability there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  tunnel  already  excavated  through  the  same  moun- 
tain for  the  Covington  and  Ohio  Railroad  is  about  one  mile  distant  from  the  proposed 
canal  tunnel,  is  4,700  feet  long,  and  passes  for  its  entire  length  through  solid  slate  and 
sandstone  rock.  As  there  have  been  no  extraordinary  physical  difficulties  encountered 
in  excavating  this  tunnel,  none  need  be  apprehended  in  the  canal  tunnel,  and,  as  will  be 
shown,  hereafter,  it  can  be  completed  as  speedily  as  other  portions  of  the  work. 

I  have  provided  for  a  tunnel  56  feet  wide  and'32  feet  high,  with  a  water-way  44  feet 
wide  and  a  tow-path  of  solid  mortared  masonry  on  each  side  six  feet  wide,  so  that  boats 
drawn  by  horses  can  pass  each  other  without  inconvenience  ;  but  these  tow-paths  may 
be  dispensed  with,  and  the  tunnel,  excavated  to  its  full  width  of  66  feet,  may  be  navi- 
gated by  steam-tugs  towing  the  canal-boats  through  it. 

As  some  intelligent  persons  and  warm  advocates  of  the  water  line  with  whom  I  have 
conversed  on  this  subject  have  been  rather  astounded,  and  have  expressed  most  decided 
opposition  to  so  long  a  tunnel,  I  will  here  consider  the  principal  objections  that  have  been 
urged  against  it. 

One  is  the  stupendous  'magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  and  the  consequent  length  of 
time  that  will  be  consumed  in  its  execution.  It  certainly  will  be  a  work  of  great  magni- 
tude, surpassing  both  in  its  size  and  length  all  others  of  a  similar  character  in  the  world. 
But  is  that  any  reason  why  it  should  not  be  done?  Ten  years  ago  such  an  objection 
would  have  had  some  force,  and  it  would  have  required  some  temerity  to  have  recom- 
mended such  a  gigantic  undertaldng.  But  within  that  time  works  of  a  similar  character, 
and  approximating  it  in  magnitude,  have  been  undertaken  both  in  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  and  are  now  being  prosecuted  to  a  successful  and  speedy  termination. 
In  this  country  the  Hoosac  tunnel  in  Massachusetts,  about  four  and  three-quarter 
miles  long,  is,  in  spite  of  past  difficulties  and  disasters,  now  progressing  favorably. 
In  Europe  the  Mont  Cenis  tunnel  under  the  Alps,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting 
France  and  Italy  by  a  continuous  railway,  is  seven  and  a  half  miles  long,  and  is  now 
nearly  completed.  In  the  interesting  report  of  Mr,  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  who  visited 
this  tunnel  last  October,  there  is  a  statement  of  the  monthly  progress  of  the  work, 
from  which  it  appears  that  the  average  monthly  progress  for  the  preceding  six  months 
from  April  to  October,  was  245  feet  at  one  end  and  238  feet  at  the  other,  or  a  total 
of  483  feet  per  month,  or  5,796  feet  per  annum,  more  than  half  a  mile  a  year  at  each 
end.  The  progress  of  the  work  on  this  tunnel,  which  is  being  excavated  from  each 
end  without  the  aid  of  shafts,  and  at  a  monthly  increasing  speed,  leads  to  the  most 
satisfactory  assurance  that  the  projected  Alleghany  tunnel,  with  the  favorable  char- 
acter of  the  mountain  for  the  location  of  numerous  shafts,  and  the  facilities  which  the 
late  improvements  in  automatic  machine  drilling  have  ailbrded  for  the  rapid  prosecu- 
tion of  that  kind  of  work,  could  be  completed  probably  as  quick  as  the  rest  of  the 
work,  certainly  as  speedily  as  the  two  and  a  half  mile  tunnel.  On  the  line  of  the  last 
mentioned  tunnel,  as  located,  there  are  three  depressions  in  the  mountain  at  which 
shafts  may  be  sunk,  one  129  feet,  one  264  feet,  and  one  215  feet  deep,  or  three  shafts  in 
two  and  a  half  miles,  averaging  203  feet  deep.  We  may  therefore  reasonably  expect, 
on  the  long  tunnel  line,  at  least  eight  shafts,  or  one  for  each  mile  of  the  tunnel,  averag- 
ing about  425  feet  deep.  But  if  there  is  only  one  shaft  for  every  three  miles  of  the 
tunnel,  and  one  year  is  allowed  for  sinking  them,  it  is  evident  that  at  the  rate  of  half  a 
mile  a  year  each  way  from  each  shaft,  and  from  the  ends,  the  tunnel  could  be  excavated 
in  four  years  from  its  commencement,  which  is  about  as  quickly  as  the  ISTew  River  or 
GBgenbrier  sections  could  be  completed  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  No 
reasonable  objection,  then,  can  be  urged  against  the  long  tunnel  on  account  of  the  time 
that  will  be  consumed  in  its  execution.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  money,  and  of  money 
only  ;  and  I  think  that  I  have  proved  that  the  money  would  be  economically  and  jadi- 
ciously  expended. 

Another  objection  is  urged  as  to  its  use  after  it  is  completed,  a  fancied  difficulty  and 
even  horror  of  passing  for  a  distance  of  nine  miles  under  ground  and  in  utter  dark- 
ness. It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  provided  for  tow-paths  of  masonry  six  feet  wide 
on  each  side  of  the  tunnel,  which  are  to  be  protected  on  their  edges  by  a  cast-iron 
curb  or  railing.  By  this  means  there  will  be  ample  room  and  perfect  security  for 
teams,  and  as  there  will  be  no  meeting  of  teams  nor  passing  of  lines  under  or  over  the  | 

*NoTE — The  attentive  reader-will  observe  a  discrepancy  in  the  time  allowed  for  the  passage  of  a  _ 
boat  through  the  locks  in  the  calculation  of  the  water  consumed  on  the  summit  level  and  in  the  calcu-  " 
lation  of  the  tonnage  capacity  of  the  canal,  six  minutes  being  assumed  in  the  first  case,  and  seven  and 
a  half  minutes  in  the  second.    Th's  has  been  done  purposely,  so  as  to  assume  an  extravagant  average 
of  the  quantity  of  water  consumed,  and  a  more  moderate  and  practical  average  for  the  assumed  ca- 
pacity of  the  canal. 


• 


I 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


61 


boats,  there  will  be  no  delay  when  the  boats  pass  each  other  as  there  is  elsewhere,  and 
consequently  the  navigation  through  the  tunnel  will  be  conducted  with  less  delay  and 
inconvenience,  and  with  as  much  security  as  on  other  parts  of  the  line. 

As  to  the  darkness,  the  boats,  of  course,  will  have  their  bow  lights  up,  which  will 
give  a  sufficiency  of  light.  I  believe  that  if  the  boatmen  had  the  choice  of  the  two 
routes,  they  would  greatly  prefer  the  nine  miles  through  the  long  tunnel  to  the  four- 
teen miles  by  the  other  route,  with  its  440  feet  of  lockage,  and  its  two  and  a  half  miles 
tunnel,  and  its  delay  of  7-^-  hours.  In  fact  there  is  no  objection  that  is  urged  against 
the  nine  mile  tunnel,  except  as  to  its  cost,  that  cannot  be  applied  to  a  tunnel  2|-  miles 
long,  and  the  summit  cannot  be  passed  by  a  tunnel  of  less  length.  To  get  up  to  this 
level  there  is  an  ascent  from  the  Greenbrier  River  of  240  feet,  and  a  corresponding  de- 
scent on  the  other  side,  occupying  in  all  a  distance  of  14  m^iles.  To  feed  the  canal  by 
this  route  and  at  this  level  we  have  to  resort  to  a  reservoir  on  Anthony's  Creek,  a 
feeder  canal  nine  miles  long,  and  a  feeder  tunnel  2^  miles  long.  By  the  alternate  route 
we  have  a  tunnel  nearly  four  times  as  long,  but  equally  as  practicable  in  its  construc- 
tion and  use  ;  we  shorten  the  distance  actually  four  miles,  and  in  etiect  fifteen,  dispense 
with  44  locks  and  the  expense  of  their  attendaiice  and  maintenance,  and,  by  feeding 
directly  from  the  Greenbrier  River,  avoid  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  a  reservoir  and 
feeder  canal  to  supply  the  summit  level  with  water. 

Moreover,  by  avoiding  the  delay  attending  the  passing  of  so  many  locks  so  close 
together,  we  would  actually  increase  the  capacity  and  value  of  the  canal,  and  would 
present  to  the  consideration  of  the  public  an  improvement  which,  v/hen  completed,  Aviil 
in  its  capacity  and  utility,  be  superior  to  any  other  on  this  continent. 

Anticipating  that  there  might  be  criticisms  adverse  to  the  proposed  change  of  plan 
at  the  summit  level,  I  have  not  been  contented  to  recommend  such.an  extensive  tunnel 
solely  upon  my  ov/n  judgment,  but  have  solicited  the  advice  of  a  gentleman  whose 
opinion  upon  such  a  subject  is  probably  entitled  to  more  respect  and  confidence  than 
that  of  any  other  engineer  in  this  country.  I  allude  to  Mr,  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  of 
Baltimore,  whose  long  experience  in  tunneling,  and  especially  as  consulting  engineer  of 
the  Hoosac  tunnel,  and  whose  observation  of  the  operations  at  the  Mont  Cenis  tunnel 
have  afibrded  him  rare  opportunities  of  acquiring  an  enlightened  judgment  concern- 
ing the  practicability,  and  the  probable  time  that  would  be  consumed  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  a  work  of  such  magnitude  as  the  proposed  Alleghany  Tunnel.  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  presenting  his  letter  on  that  subject,  which  he  has  kindly  permitted  to  be 
published  : 

Baltimore,  3Iay  1,  1868. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  30th  ultimo,  and  of  the  map  and 
report  accompanying  it,  and  which  contains  the  most  specific  information  you  are  able 
to  give  me  as  to  the  profile  of  the  proposed  long  tunnel  at  the  summit  level  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal.  I  would,  of  course,  have  liked  to  have  had  before 
me  an  accurate  longitudinal  section  of  the  line  of  the  tunnel,  but  the  heights  above 
tide  shown  upon  the  topographical  map,  and  the  projection  of  the  position  of  the  work 
thereon,  enable  me  to  say  what  follows  in  the  way  of  an  opinion,  which,  if  it  will  assist 
you  in  recommending  the  enterprise,  I  shall  feel  glad  to  have  given,  desiring  as  I  do  the 
success  of  every  effort  to  improve  the  communications  of  our  common  country,  aside 
from  all  local  interest. 

I  cannot  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  proposed  tunnel  of  10  miles  in  length  entirely  prac- 
ticable, nor  do  I  doubt  that,  for  the  reasons  assigned  in  your  letter  to  me,  it  would  be 
expedient  to  adopt  it  instead  of  the  shorter  one  of  2.6-10  miles.  The  assumed  summit 
level  of  the  canal  being  1,700  feet  above  tide,  and  the  highest  surface  elevation  at  the 
top  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain  over  the  tunnel  being  but  2,606  feet  above  tide,  if  one 
or  more  shafts  had  to  be  sunk  even  at  points  as  high  as  this,  they  would  still  be  liot 
excessive  in  depth.  I  judge,  however,  from  an  inspection  of  the  map,  that  if  the  line 
of  the  tunnel  be  curved  as  you  suggest,  and  to  which  I  see  no  serious  objection,  (the 
radii  being  large,)  the  extreme  depth  of  shaft  need  not  exceed  600  or  700  feet,  and  tlie 
average  depth  about  400  feet.  If,  then,,  we  assume  a  shaft  in  each  mile,  we  can  esti- 
mate the  time  required  to  execute  the  work  with  some  certainty.  Experience  in  sink- 
ing the  deep  central  shaft  of  the  Hoosac  tunnel  of  1,030  feet  in  depth",  has  shown  that 
in  the  mica  slate  rock  of  that  mountain  a  speed  of  25  feet  per  month  can  be  made  in 
drilling  by  hand  labor  and  blasting  with  common  gunpowder.  In  the  clay  slates  and 
sandstones  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain,  I  believe  that  a  progress  of  from  30  to  40  feet 
per  month  could  be  effected  even  by  hand-drilling,  and  considerably  more  by  machine 
drills  and  nitro-glycerine.  If  we  assume  then  but  33^  feet  per  month,  ten  shafts  of 
400  feet  average  depth  can  be  sunk  in  twelve  months  after  being  fairly  started,  and  as 
they  may  be  simultaneously  begun  and  finished,  the  work  of  drifting  horizontally  in 
the  body  of  the  tunnel  could  be  commenced  at  two  faces  in  each  shaft,  or  tv\'enty  faces 
in  the  whole  ten  shafts,  supposing  the  whole  tunnel  to  be  taken  out  through  the  shafts, 
and  allowing  nothing  for  the  approach  cuts.  There  would  then  be  half  a'mile  to  drive 
each  way  from  each  shaft ;  and  at  an  average  rate  of  but  100  feet  per  month,  the  sev- 
eral workings  would  meet  in  26.4-10  months,  or  a  little  over  two  years.    Adding  to  this 


62 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


the  tAvelve  months  eraploj^ed  in  sinking  the  shafts,  we  have  3  years  and  2.4-10  months, 
and  with  a  further  addition  of  enough  time  for  preparation  and  contingencies  to  make 
up  four  years,  the  work  could  be  finished  and  in  operation  at  the  end  of  that  period. 
It  may  seem  incredible  that  a  ten-mile  tunnel  could  be  finished  in  any  such  time,  and 
if  the  time  already  spent  at  the  Hoosac  and  at  Mont  Cenis  be  taken  as  settling  the 
question,  it  would  be  at  once  decided  adversely  to  this  estimate.  But  we  must  look  at 
the  recent  progress  of  those  works,  with  the  advantage  of  the  experience  earned  by 
them  and  now  available  to  a  new  scheme  of  similar  character,  and  not  to  the  average 
progress,  including  the  delays  attendant  upon  mistakes  made  in  the  outset,  and  the  de- 
fects of  the  labor-saving  machinery  which  has  since  been  perfected  and  is  now  realizing 
such  vastly  improved  results. 

Having  driven  more  than  one  tunnel  in  slates  and  sandstones,  such  as  will  be  met 
with  in  the  Alleghany  tunnel  you  have  projected,  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the 
character  of  those  rocks,  and  know  that  very  l  apid  progress  can  be  made  in  them.  The 
strike  and  dip  of  the  strata  at  your  locality  are  also  as  favorable  as  possible  to  safe  and 
speedy  working.  I  assume  that  the  most  improved  drilling  machine  will  be  used,  and 
that  as  suggested  in  my  last  report  upon  the  Hoosac  tunnel,  which  you  have,  the  whole 
section  be  taken  out  at  once,  without  any  preliminary  "  heading,"  which  can  be  readily 
done  with  drill  carriages  properly  constructed  for  the  purpose,  I  also  suppose  that 
nitro-glycerine  would  be  used  as  the  explosive,  although  tliat  would  not  be  necessary  to 
insure  a  progress  of  100  feet  per  month,  much  more  than  which  has  been  etiected  with 
gunpowder,  both  at  Mont  Cenis  (where  as  much  as  272  feet  per  mcmth  has  been  accom- 
plished) and  at  the  Hoosac,  where  131  feei  has  been  driven  in  a  much  harder  and  tougher 
rock  than  either  tha,t  of  Mont  Cenis  or  the  Alleghany  Mountain, 

As  much  water  may  be  encountered  in  your  long  tunnel,  the  most  effective  means  of 
raising  it  must  be  provided,  and  for  this  purpose  no  engine  can  be  compared  with  the 
Cornish  engine  (of  the  "  bull"  form)  placed  at  the  top  of  the  shdft.  The  hoisting  and 
ventilating  machinery  must,  of  course,  be  of  the  most  approved  form,  and  in  short  all 
the  operations  vv'ithin  and  without  the  tunnel  made  to  harmonize  in  the  most  perfect 
manner. 

In  conclusion  I  will  add  that  I  have  never  felt,  in  giving  a  professional  opinion,  more 
perfect  confidence  in  its  soundness,  and  the  certainty  with  which  the  results  predicted 
can  be  realized. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  respectfully  and  truly, 

BEN  J.  H.  LATROBE, 

Civil  Engineer, 

E.  Lorraine,  Esq., 

Engineer  and  Superintendent  James  River  and  Kanaioha  Canal,  Bichmond,  Va. 


The  estimated  cost  of  the  improvement  by  the  long  line  is  829,966,177 

Add  excess  of  cost  of  short  line   7,397,734 


Total  cost  by  short  line   37,363,911 


THK  VALUE  OF  THE   IMPROVEMENT  AS  AN  INVESTMENT. 

Capital  invested  in  new  works,  say  $40,000,000 

Capital  invested  in  old  works,  say   4,926,664 

Preferred  six  per  cent,  stock  of  the  State   7,400,000 


Total  capital  invested  • . "  52,326,664 


ASSUMED  REVENUE. 

•7,000,000  tons  through  freight,  485  miles,  at  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile   $6,790,000 

100,000  tons  way  freight,  say  50  miles,  at  1  cent  per  ton  per  mile   50,000 

200,000  tons  to  and  from  Lynchburg,  146  miles,  at  f  cent  per  ton  per  mile . .  219,000 
100,000  tons  to  and  from  Buchanan  and  Lexington,  196  miles,  at  -}  cent  per 

ton  per  mile   98,000 

200,000  tons  to  and  from  Covington,  243  miles,  at  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile . .  194,400 
300,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Yalley  to  Lynchburg  and  to  iron  furnaces 

on  line  of  canal,  250  miles,  at  2.5  mills  per  ton  per  mile  . ,   187,500 

200,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Valley  to  Richmond,  400  miles,  at  2  mills 

per  ton  per  mile  ^   160,000 

500,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Yalley  to  New  York  and  other  eastern 

cities,  via  Richmond,  400  miles,  at  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile   400,000 

Revenue  from  tonnage  of  Kanawha  westward   400,000 


JA5IES  imUR  AXD  KANAKA  CAN'AL. 


63 


Reremie  from  Eichmond  dock   6400,000 

Revenue  from  water  rents   30,000 

Revenue  from  boats  and  passengers   100,000 

9,028,900 

Expenses  of  repairs  and  administration  S750  per  mile                              .  363,750 

jS'et  revenue   8.665,150 

TThicli  is  more  than  16  per  cent,  on  a  capital  of   853,000,000 


Tiie  coal  field  penetrated  by  tlie  KanaVna,  Coal.  Big  Sandy,  and  Guyandotte  Rivers, 
in  the  variety,  quality,  and  quantity  of  its  bituminous  coals,  is  without  parallel  on  this 
continent.  The  Virginia  water  line  opens  this  entire  field  to  eastern  markets.  The 
Kanawha  passes  through  the  he'irt  of  tliis  coal  region,  and  tiie  Coal  River,  its  tributary, 
is  already  provided  with  slack-water  navi^Aiion.  The  cannel  coal  of  this  coal  basin  can 
certainly  be  delivered  in  ISew  York  city  by  the  Virginia  water  line  at  one-lialf  of  the 
present  cost  in  that  city,  by  the  cargo,  of  the  English  cannel  coal.  It  is  dilficult  to  esti- 
mate the  advantages  of  the  Virginia  water  line  to  the  East  in  connection  with  this  coal, 
but  great  confidence  is  felt  that  the  above  estimate  of  eastern  shipments  will,  on  the 
completion  of  the  water  line,  be  found  to  be  far  below  the  mark. 

VALt'E  OF  THE  IMPROVEMENT  TO  THE  TVESTERX  AXD  X0RTnWT:5^TERy  STATES'. 

But  it  is  not  only  as  a  profitable  investment  for  capital,  but  chiefly  in  its  character  as 
a  great  public  highway,  by  which  the  products  of  agriculture,  the  forest,  and  mines  may 
find  the  sliortest  and  cheapest  nieans  of  access  to  the  eastern  markets,  tliat  this  great 
improvement  recommends  itself  especially  to  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  the 
"Western  and  Xorthwestern  States. 

These  States  are  almost  exclusively  agricultural,  and  produce  an  immense  surplus  of 
grain  and  pork,  which  is  increasing  every  year  to  an  extent  that  is  incalculable.  The 
States  of  r\iissonri,  Illinois,  Iowa,  V'isconsin,  and  3iinnesota  are  estimated  to  have  pro- 
duced more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  value  of  the  crops  raised  in  the  United  States 
in  1864,  four-tenths  of  all  the  wheat,  and  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  corn.  iS'early  all 
the  wheat  exported  from  tliis  coimtry  is  sent  from  those  States. 

iSTew  England  produces  but  eleven  quarts  of  wheat  to  each  inhabitant,  and  consumes 
850,000,000  more  than  she  produces  of  agricultural  productions.  Even  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  are  calling  upon  the  teeming  granaries  of  the  vTest  to  supply  their  defi- 
ciency in  breadstulfs  ;  and  Ohio  is  barely  making  a  surplus.*  England  imports  72,000,- 
000  bushels  of  wheat  annually,  and  her  importations  are  increasii-ig  every  year  :  and  in 
Europe  generally  the  deficiency  of  grain  must  be  greater  every  year,  for  the  produc- 
tion is  nearly  at  a  stand,  while  the  population  is  stealily  increasing.  This  rapidly-mul- 
tiplying deficiency  of  breadstutfs  in  the  Old  "World  and  in  the  east  can  be  supplied  only 
from  the  "Western  and  Xorthwestern  States,  which  will  soon  become  the  granary  of  the 
world. 

The  great  question,  then,  with  the  people  of  those  States  is,  how  to  get  their  surplus 
productions  to  market  in  the  shortest  time  and  at  the  least  possible  cost,  for  their  suc- 
cess and  vcealth  depend  very  much  on  the  cost  of  transportation.  The  prices  of  wheat, 
corn,  and  pork  in  the  West  are  regulated  by  the  prices  of  those  articles  in  New  York, 
being  generally  the  same,  less  the  cost  of  transportation  to  tliat  place. 

The  surplus  products  of  the  AVest  are  estimated  at  25,000,000  tons.  The  chief  chan- 
nels of  communication  with  the  East  are  by  t!ic  I\[ississinpi  River  to  New  Orleans,  and 
thence  by  Gttlf  and  ocean  to  New  York  or  Liverpool,  and  by  a  variety  of  railroads  cross- 
ing the  North. western  States  east  of  the  ?'l!ssis<ij)pi  to  the  lake  cities,  and  then  either  by 
the  lakes  and  Erie  Canal  or  by  direct  railroad  line  to  New  York. 

These  railroads  charge  enormous  freights,  but  possess  a  great  advantage  in  the  ele- 
ment of  time.  They  deliver  freight  from  the  Mississippi  River  into  New  York  in  about 
ten  days,  and  the  merchant  in  the  western  city  is  tints  enabled  to  draw  at  ten  days' 
sight  on  his  New  York  commission  merchant,  and  get  his  draft  discounted  at  bank,  and 
invest  his  money  in  new  i)urchases.  The  facilities  thtis  offered  by  these  routes  enable 
them,  at  extortionate  prices,  to  compete  to  their  utmost  capacity  with  the  river  route, 
with  its  low  rates,  but  long  time. 

'■The  directors  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  have  completed  an  elaborate  report  for  one 
of  the  Committees  of  Congres^;,  which  shows  the  tonnage  and  value  of  the  freight 
transported  durincr  the  year  ended  March  31,  1SG7,  across  the  State  of  Illinois,  west- 
Avard  o^"  the  meridian  of  Chicago,  from  which  it  aj^pears  that  there  were  transported 
over  eight  railroads  running  eastward,  4,358,000  tons  of  freight,  the  value  of  which 
amounted  to  8235,000,000;  and  westward,  1,345,000  tons,  valued  at  8411,000,000;  the 


*See  speech  of  P.  Robb,  esq.,  before  the  Mississippi  River  improvement  convention  held  at  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  February  15,  lSti6. 


t 


64 


JAMES  mwn  AND  EAK-AWHA  CANAL* 


combined  movement  amounting  to  tile  enormous  aggregate  of  5,703,000  tons,  valued  at 
$646,000,000,  an  amount  nearly,  equal  to  two-thirds  of  the  entire  freight  commerce  of 
the  country."  We  thus  And  that  these  railroads  only  transport  about  one-sixth  part 
of  the  estimated  surplus  products  of  the  West. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Monroe,  and  published  in  the  Dubuque  Times, 
January  28,  1868,  he  says :  "The  charges  by  railroad  from  Dubuque  (188  miles  west  of 
Chicago)  and  Niew  York  are  now,  for  the  lowest  class  freight  carried  eastward,  $1  10 
per  hundred,  or  $22  per  ton.  In  the  summer,  when  canal  and  lake  navigation  was  free, 
it  was  95  cents  per  hundred,  or  $19  per  ton.  The  lowest  rate  on  westward-bound  freight 
is  now  $1  30  per  hundred,  or  $26  per  ton,  Avhile  the  next  class  of  heavy  freight  pays 
$2  30  per  hundred,  or  $46  per  ton.  This  is  nearly  as  favorable  a  point  from  which  to 
transport  produce  or  mercliandise  from  the  Mississippi  across  to  New  York,  or  vice  versa, 
as  any  other  point  west  of  that  stream,  as  it  is  nearly  in  the  line  of  the  general  route  of 
transportation.  It  may,  therefore,  be  safely  stated  that  transportations  on  produce  pay- 
ing the  lowest  charges  from  any  point  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  to  New 
York  will  not  fall  short  of  an  average  throughout  the  year  of  $20  per  ton;  and  the 
westward-bound  freight  is  still  higher." 

In  the  Dubuque  Herald  of  March  18,  1868,  it  is  stated  that  the  Mississippi  Barge 
Company  have  advertised  the  following  rates  for  the  coming  season  : 

Wheat,  from  St.  Paul  to  ISTew  York   36  cents  per  bushel. 

Wheat,  from  Dubuque  to  New  York  32  cents  per  bushel. 

Corn,  from  Illinois  River  to  New  York  »  28  cents  per  bushel. 

These  rates  are  on  an  average  cheaper  than  shipments  from  Chicago  to  New  York, 
via  the  lakes,  in  the  summer  time. 

The  Des  Moines  (Iowa)  Register,  of  the  15th  March,  1868,  says  :  "The  first  shipment 
since  the  war,  from  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans,  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the  Des 
Moines  Yalley  Railroad  to  Des  Moines,  was  made  a  few  days  ago  ;  27  crates  of  queens- 
were  came  through  in  95  days,  at  the  cost  of  84  cents  per  hundred  pounds  less  than 
via  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  at  a  cost  of  only  $1  17  per  hundred  pounds  from  Liverpool. 
We  are  also  of  the  opinion  that  this  is  cheaper  than  the  regular  carrying  price  from 
Liverpool  to  Chicago." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  value  of  the  Virginia  water  line  to  the  people  of  the  North- 
western States,  let  us  now  make  a  comparison  of  the  cost  of  transporting  a  bushel  of 
v\rheat  from  Dubuque  to  New  York  via  river  and  ocean,  and  the  cost  of  transporting  it 
by  the  Virginia  water  line  to  the  seaboard. 

Wheat  from  Dubuque  to  New  York,  1,665  miles  by  river  and  1,850  miles  by  ocean, 
total  3,515  miles,  at  32  cents  per  bushel — $10  56  per  ton,  or  3  mills  per  ton  per  mile. — 
Distributing  the  charges  in  proper  proportion,  would  give  for  the  ocean  transportation 
2  1-iO  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  and  for  the  river  transportation  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  cost  of  transportation  on  the  Erie  Canal  is  stated  at  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  ex- 
clusive of  tolls.  As  will  be  shown  hereafter,  transportation  on  the  Virginia  Canal  will 
be  equally  as  cheap  as  on  the  Erie.  I  therefore  put  it  at  4  mills,  and  adding  2  mills  for 
tolls,  make  the  whole  charges  on  the  James  River  aud  Kanawha  Canal  6  mills  per  ton 
per  mile. 

The  charges,  then,  on  wheat  from  Dubuque  to  Hampton  Roads  by  the  Virginia  water 
line,  will  be  as  follows  : 

River  transportation  from  Dubuque   to  Point  Pleasant,  1,367  miles,  at  4  mills 


per  ton  per  mile   $5  47 

Point  Pleasant  to  Richmond,  485  miles,  at  6  mills  2  91 

Richmond  to  Hampton  Roads,  125  miles,  at  4  mills   60 

One  transshipment   10 

Total....  8  98 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  1.58  cents  per  ton,  or  nearly  5  cents  per  bushel. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Virginia  water  line  can  compete  successfully  with  the 
Mississippi  river  and  ocean  line  from  the  Northwestern  States  even  at  the  low  prices 
advertised  by  the  Mississippi  Barge  Company  ;  and  when  we  take  into  consideration  the 
great  saving  in  time  and  insurance  by  the  Virginia  Line,  the  liability  of  breadstuffs  to 
heat  and  sour  by  passing  through  a  damp  semi-tropical  clim.ate,  who  can  doubt  that  the 
great  bulk  of  the  surplus  products  of  the  Northwestern  States  will  seek  a  market 
through  Virginia. 

We  have  seen  that  the  lowest  rates  charged  by  the  comparatively  short  railroad  routes 
from  Dubuque  to  New  York  in  the  summer,  when  canal  and  lake  navigation  was  open, 
was  $19  a  ton.  There  would  be  a  saving  then  of  $10  02  per  ton  in  transportation  by 
the  Virginia  water  line  to  the  seaboard  over  the  railroad  line  from  Dubuque  to  New 
York,  or  about  $40,000,000  a  year  on  the  eastward  bound  freight  only,  enough  in  one 
year  to  pay  the  whole  estimated  cost  of  constructing  the  canal  on  the  most  extensive 
scale. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


65 


I  have  compared  the  cost  of  transportation  from  Dubuque  to  New  York  with  that 
from  the  same  place  to  Hampton  Roads,  because  the  completion  of  the  canal  will  de- 
mand, and  be  sure  to  result  in,  the  establishment  of  a  port  of  entry  at  Hampton  Roads 
or  the  mouth  of  James  River,  which  must  in  a  short  time  grow  to  be  a  large  city, 
with  regular  commercial  relations  established  between  it  and  Europe.  This  future 
great  commercial  emporium  of  Virginia  will,  through  its  connection  by  the  Virginia 
water  line  with  the  Western  States,  and  because  nearer  and  more  accessible  by  railroad 
to  at  least  seven-eighths  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  than  any  Atlantic  city  north  of  it, 
be  the  point  of  transshipment  of  their  immense  freights  to  be  conveyed  by  ocean  steam- 
ers and  sailing  vessels  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  will  be  connected  by  a  continuous 
water  line  1,880  miles  long  with  Kansas  City,  and  one  3,224  miles  long  with  Omaha,  on 
the  Missouri  River,  which  are  the  termini  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  now  in  the 
course  of  completion  to  San  Francisco.  The  immense  trade  that  will  pour  into  these 
cities  from  both  directions  will,  of  course,  bring  with  it  a  corresponding  travel, 
and  Virginia  will  become  the  great  thoroughfare  both  for  trade  and  travel  be- 
tween Europe  and  California  and  the  other  Pacific  States.  All  that  Commodore  Mat- 
thew F.  Maury  said  of  Norfolk  may  be  said  of  this  future  port  of  Virginia:  "As  to 
natural  advantages  of  position  and  depth  of  water,  and  accessibility  by  land  and  sea, 
Norfolk  has  no  competitor  among  the  seaport  towns  of  the  Atlantic.  Midway  the  At- 
lantic coast  line  of  the  United  States,  Norfolk  is  the  most  convenient  because  the  most 
central  point  where  the  produce  of  the  interior  may  be  collected,  and  whence  it  may 
be  distributed  north  and  south,  right  and  left,  among  the  markets  of  the  seaboard. 
Its  climate  is  delightful ;  it  is  exactly  of  that  happy  middle  temperature  where  the 
frpsts  of  the  north  bite  not,  and  where  the  pestilence  of  the  south  walketh  not.  Its 
harbor  is  commodious,  and  as  safe  as  can  be.  It  is  never  blocked  up  with  ice  ;  and  as 
to  the  egress  and  ingress  between  it  and  the  sea,  it  possesses  all  the  facilities  thai  the 
mariner  could  desire. 

"Moreover,  the  prevailing  winds  in  the  parallel  of  Norfolk  are  westerly  winds,  which 
are  fair  for  coasting  and  for  going  seaward  in  any  direction.  A  little  to  the  south  of 
that  parallel  you  find  the  northeast  trades,  which  are  fair  winds  for  the  inward  bound 
Norfolk  vessels. 

"  Then  there  is  the  Gulf  Stream,  that  mighty  river  in  the  ocean,  upon  the  verge  of 
which  Norfolk  stands. 

"It  flows  up  with  a  current  which,  without  the  help  of  sweeps,  sails,  or  steam,  will 
carry  the  European-bound  vessel  out  of  Norfolk  at  the  rate  of  nearly  one  hundred 
miles  a  day,  directly  on  her  course.  Then  at  the  sides  of  this,  and  counter  to  it,  are 
eddies  which  favor  the  same  vessel  on  her  return  to  Norfolk,  These  hawse  her  along 
and  shorten  her  voyage  by  many  a  mile. 

"  Such  are  the  natural  advantages  of  Norfolk  seaward.  Let  us  look  ashore  and  con- 
sider them  landward,  and  compare  them  with  the  natural  inland  advantages  of  New 
York.  Stretch  a  string  on  the  map  from  Norfolk  to  New  York  and  make  a  dot  half 
way  between  them.  Now  seek  a  point  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie  that  is  equi- 
distant from  New  York  and  Norfolk  ;  draw  a  line  from  the  dot  to  this  point,  and  you 
will  have  a  dividing  line  of  distance  between  the  two  places,  every  point  along  which 
will  be  just  as  far  from  the  one  place  as  the  other.  You  will  find  that  this  line  runs 
through  Delaware  and  cuts  Lake  Erie  near  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

"  Thus  you  perceive  that  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  and  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri,  are  actually 
nearer  to  Norfolk  than  they  are  to  New  York,  even  by  an  air  line. 

"  You  see,  moreover,  that  as  between  New  York  and  Norfolk,  the  natural  advantages 
here  are  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

"  The  most  direct  way  to  the  sea  through  either  of  these  ports,  from  most  of  the 
lake  country,  and  from  almost  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley,  lies  through  Virginia,  The 
natural  advantages,  then,  of  Norfolk,  in  relation  to  the  sea,  or  to  the  back  country,  are 
superior  beyond  comparison  to  those  of  New  York." 

Whether,  then,  the  future  seaport  of  Virginia  be  Norfolk  or  a  new  city  to  be  built  on 
the  north  side  of  the  mouth  of  James  River,  we  have  the  highest  authority  in  this 
country,  or  any  other,  for  pronouncing  it  the  most  capacious,  safe^  accessible,  and  co?i» 
venient  harbor  from  Florida  to  Newfoundland. 

The  depth  of  water  is  sutficient  to  float  the  Great  Eastern,  and  its  capacity  to  accom* 
modate  the  shipping  of  the  world. 

It  is  proper,  therefore,  in  making  a  comparison  of  distances  and  charges,  to  make 
Hampton  Roads,  the  Atlantic  terminus  of  the  Virginia  water  line,  the  point  of  compari- 
son with  New  York. 

COMPARATIVE  COST  OF  TRANSPORT ATIOK,  BY  THE  YlRGIKHA  WATER  LINE  AND   OTfiER  COM- 
PETING ROUTES,  FROM  THE  PRINCIPAL  WESTERN  CITIES  TO  THE  ATLANTIC  SEABOARD. 

The  previous  comparisons  were  made  upon  the  actually  existing  charges  for  trans- 
portation between  New  York  and  Dubuque,  (this  city  being  selected  because  it  is  a 
point  of  comparison  as  favorable  to  the  northern  lines  of  transportation  as  any  other  on 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  about  midway  between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul,)  but  inas- 


66 


JAIVIES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


much  as  the  charges  for  transportation  are  fluctuating,  and  dependent  a  good  deal  upon 
the  competition  produced  by  rival  lines,  it  will  be  proper  to  make  the  comparison  be- 
tween the  Virginia  water  line  and  other  routes  upon  the  more  certain  fixed  basis  of  the 
actual  cost  of  transportation. 

The  costs  of  transportation,  as  laid  down  by  Mr.  "W".  J.  McAlpine,  State  engineer  and 
surveyor  of  New  York  canals  in  1854,  and  which  he  stated  had  beed  arrived  at  with 
great  care,  were  as  follows  : 

Mills. 


Ocean — Transportation,  average   1.5 

Lakes — Long   2.0 

Short.   3.4 

Rivers— Hudson  and  of  similar  character  ^   2.5 

Mississippi  and  Ohio  '.   3.0 

Canals— Erie  enlargement   4.0 

Ordinary  size   5.0 

Railroads — Average   15.0 


The  cost  of  transportation  may  be  somewhat  greater  now  than  it  was  then,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  general  advance  in  the  prices  of  labor,  provisions,  and  materials;  but  as 
any  changes  of  that  kind  will  apply  equally  to  all  kinds  of  transportation,  the  relative 
cost  will  still  remain  the  same,  and  therefore  the  above  figures  will  subserve  the  pur- 
pose of  comparison  just  as  well  nov;  as  then,  and  may  be  relied  upon  as  being  very  nearly 
correct. 

The  locks  on  the  enlarged  Erie  Canal  are  110  feet  long  in  the  chamber,  and  18  feet 
wide.  The  largest  boats  are  98  feet  long,  17.4  feet  wide,  and  draw  6.4  feet  water,  their 
maximum  capacity  being  240  tons. 

As  the  locks  on  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  as  proposed,  will  be  120  feet 
long  and  20  feet  wide  in  the  chamber,  they  will  admit  boats  of  larger  dimensions  and 
greater  capacity  than  those  on  the  Erie  Canal.  I  estimate  their  capacity  at  280  tons. 
The  lockage  on  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  will  be  much  greater  than  on  the 
Erie,  but  taking  into  consideration  the  greater  capacty  of  the  canal,  and  the  fact  that  it 
will  have  at  its  western  end  85  miles  of  open  river  navigation  and  123  miles  of  slack- 
water,  adapted  to  steamboats,  we  certainly  will  be  justifiable  in  assuming  the  cost  of 
transportation  on  the  Virginia  water  line  from  Point  Pleasant  to  Richmond  at  4  mills 
per  ton  per  mile. 

The  following  tables  show  the  comparative  cost  of  transportation  by  the  leading 
routes  from  the  West  and  Northwest  to  the  Atlantic  ports. 

The  inland  distances  are  taken  from  Williams  and  Appleton's  Traveler's  Guide  Books, 
and  the  ocean  distances  have  been  kindly  furnished  from  the  Coast  Survey  OflSce  at 
Washington. 


No,  1. — From  Dubuque^  lowa^  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  the  Virginia  icater  line. 

Dubuque  to  Point  Pleasant   1,367  miles,  at  3  mills  per  ton  per  mile. .  $4  10 

Point  Pleasant  to  Richmond   485  miles,  at  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile. .    1  94 

Richmond  to  Hampton  Roads   125  miles,  at  3  mills  per  ton  per  mile . .  38 


1,977 

One  transshipment  :   10 

Total   ...    6  52 


No.  2, — From  Dubuque,  loica,  to  New  York,  by  railroad. 

Dubuqe  to  Chicago,  by  Galena  and  Chicago  Railroad  188  miles. 

Chicago  to  Dunkirk,  by  Lake  Shore  Railroad   497  miles.  t 

Dunkirk  to  New  York,  by  Erie  Railroad   460  miles. 

Dubuque  to  New  York   1,145  miles,  at  15 mills. .  $17  17 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  route,  $10  65  per  ton. 
Difference  against  Virginia  in  distance,  832  miles. 

No.  3. — Dubuque  to  Neiti  York,  ma  Chicago^  the  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal. 

t)ubuque  to  Chicago  by  railroad   188  miles,  at  15  mills +  10  cents. .  $2  92 

Chicago  to  Bufialo  by  the  lakes   1,042  miles,  at  2  mills +  10  cents. .   2  18 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


67 


Buffalo  to  West  Troy  by  Erie  Canal   350  miles,  at  4  mills  $1  40 

West  Troy  to  New  York  by  Hudson  River.. . .     151  miles,  at  2.5  mills   38 

1,731  6  88 


Difference  in  favor  of  the  Yirginia  line,  3G  cents  per  ton. 
Difference  against  Virginia  in  distance,  246  miles, 

No.  4. — Dubuque  to  Neio  York,  via  Toledo  and  the  lake  and  Erie  Canal, 

Dubuque  to  Toledo  by  railroad   432  miles,  at  15  mills  +  10  cents.  $6  58 

Toledo  to  Buffalo  by  lake   252  miles,  at  3  mills  + 10  cents. .  86 

Buffalo  to  New  York,  as  by  No.  3   501  miles   1  78 


4,185  9  22 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  $2  70  per  ton. 
Difference  against  Virginia  line  in  distance,  792  miles. 

No.  5. — From  Dubuque  to  New  York,  via  Mississippi  River  and  ocean. 

Dubuque  to  New  Orleans  ,     1,665  miles,  at  3  mills   $4  99 

New  Orleans  to  New  York   1,850  miles,  at  1^  mills +  10  cents   2  87 


3.515  7  86 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  $1  34  per  ton. 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  1,538  miles. 

No.  6. — From  St.  Louis  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  Virginia  water  line. 

St.  Louis  to  Point  Pleasant   903  miles,  at  4 mills +  10  cents. .  $2  81 

Point  Pleasant  to  Richmond   485  miles,  at  4  mills   1  94 

Richmond  to  Hampton  Roads   125  miles,  at  3  mills   38 


1,513  5  13 


No.  7.  From  St.  Louis  to  New  York,  via  Illinois  and.  Michigan  Canal,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal, 


St.  Louis  to  Grafton  

Grafton  to  Peru,  Illinois  River  

Peru  to  Chicago,  by  canal  

Chicago  to  New  York,  via  ttie  lakes 


St.  Louis  to  Portsmouth,  Ohio  River. 
Portsmouth  to  Cleveland,  by  canal,. 

Cleveland  to  Buffalo,  by  lake  

Buffalo  to  New  York,  by  Erie  Canal 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia,  $1  57  per  ton, 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia,  300  miles. 


41  miles,  at  3  mills   $0  12 

274  miles,  at  4  mills +  10  cents. .    1  20 
102  miles,  at  5  mills +  10  cents. .  61 
1,543  by  table  No.  3   3  96 


1,9G0  5  89 


811  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents. .  $2  53 

307  miles,  at  5  mills +  10  cents. .  1  63 

194  miles,  at  3.4  mills   66 

501  by  table  No.  3   1  88 


1,813  6  70 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  76  cents  per  ton. 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  447  miles. 

No.  8. — St.  Louis  to  New  York,via  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  Erie  Canals. 


From  St.  Louis  and  Cairo  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  River  and  ocean,  the  difference 
in  favor  of  the  Virginia  route  will  be  the  same  as  from  Dubuque  ;  and  223  miles  below 
Cairo  or  about  Memphis,  Tennessee,  the  cost  by  the  two  routes  will  be  equal. 

For  Cairo,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and  all  other  points  on  the  Ohio  River  between 
Cairo  and  Portsmouth,  via  the  Ohio  and  Erie  Canals  to  New  York,  the  difference  in 
favor  of  the  Virginia  route  will  be  the  same  as  for  St.  Louis,  in  table  No.  8,  but  of  course 
the  proportional  saving  will  be  greater,  because  it  will  be  the  same  amount,  saved  on  a 
smaller  total  of  costs. 


68 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


No.  9.    Evansville  to  Kew  York,  by  Wabash  Canal,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal. 

Evansville  to  Toledo   467  miles,  at  5  mills  + 10  cents. .  $2  43 

Toledo  to  New  York   753  miles,  by  No.  4   2  64 

1,220  5  07 


Evansville  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  Virginia  water  line. 

Evansville  to  Point  Pleasant   530  miles,  at  3  mills  + 10  cents.  $1  69 

Point  Pleasant  to  Hampton  Roads   610  by  No,  6   2  32 

1,140  4  01 

Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  water  line,  $1  06. 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  in  distance,  80  miles. 

No.  10. — Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Miami  Canal,  lake,  and  Erie  Canal, 

Cincinnati  to  Toledo   266  miles,  at  5  mills  + 10  cents. .  $1  43 

Toledo  to  New  York   753  miles,  by  No.  4   2  64 

1,019  4  07 


Cincinnati  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  Virginia  water  line. 

Cincinnati  to  Point  Pleasant   206  miles,  at  3  mills  + 10  cents..  $0  72 

Point  Pleasant  to  Hampton  Roads   610  miles,  by  No.  6   2  32 

816  3  04 

Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  water  line,  $1  03. 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  in  distance,  203  miles. 

No.  VL.~Wheeling  to  Baltimore,  via  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad. 
Three  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  at  15  mills  per  ton  per  mile  •  •  •  •          $5  70 

Wheeling  to  Hampton  Roads,  by  Virginia  icater  line. 

Wheeling  to  Point  Pleasant   177  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents.  $0  63 

Point  Pleasant  to  Hampton  Roads   610  miles,  by  table  No.  6   2  35 

787  2  95 

Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  line,  $2  75. 
Difference  against  Virginia  line  in  distance,  407  miles. 

No.  12.— r^^.  Louis  to  Liverpool,  via  New  Orleans. 

St.  Lonis  to  New  Orleans   1,201  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents  $3  70 

New  Orleans  to  Liverpool   5,328  miles,,  at  1^  mills   7  99 

6,529  11  69 


St.  Louis  to  Liverpool,  via  Virginia  water  line. 

St.  Louis'to  Hampton  Roads   1,513  miles,  by  table  No.  6          85  13 

Hampton  Roads  to  Liverpool   3,710  miles,  at  1^  mills +  10  cents   5  66 

5,223  10  79 

Difference  in  favor  of  the  Virginia  route,  90  cents. 
Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  in  distance,  1,306  miles. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


69 


Besides  the  cost  of  transportation  in  the  above  table  being  in  favor  of  the  Virginia 
route,  the  difference  in  time,  in  climate,  in  safety,  in  insurance,  and  in  preservation  of 
the  cargo,  will  also  be  so  much  in  favor  of  that  route  that  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  it 
will  be  the  one  selected  for  direct  exports  and  imports  between  St.  Louis  and  Liverpool  ; 
and  as  St.  Louis  is  destined  to  be  the  great  central  city  of  the  West,  to  which  will  con- 
verge the  mighty  trade  of  the  yet  undeveloped  far  west,  Avhich  will  be  brought  in  by 
the  several  railroads  that  are  now  stretching  out  their  arm  toward  the  Pacific,  it  appears 
that  St.  Louis,  more  than  any  other  city  of  the  West,  should  feel  a  lively  and  peculiar 
interest  in  the  completion  of  the  Virginia  water  line. 

The  crates  of  queensware,  noticed  above,  that  were  imported  from  Liverpool  to  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  in  ninety-five  days,  at  $1  17  per  hundred,  might  have  been  imported  by 
the  Virginia  water  line  in  forty-five  days,  at  a  cost  of  $  1  per  hundred. 

No.  13. — Cincinnati  to  Liverpool,  via  New  Orleans. 

Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans   1,548  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents. .  $4  74 

New  Orleans  to  Liverpool   5,328  miles,  at  1^  mills   7  99 

6,876  12  73 


Cincinnati  to  Point  Pleasant   206  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents. .  $0  72 

Point  Pleasant. to  Hampton  Roads   610  miles,  by  table  No.  6   2  32 

Hampton  Roads  to  Liverpool   3,710  miles,  at  1^  mills  + 10  cents,    5  66 


4,526  8  70 


Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  water  line,  $  4  03, 
Difierence  in  favor  of  Virginia  in  distance,  2,350  miles. 

As  it  has  already  been  shown  that  the  difference  between  Cincinnati  and  New  York 
and  Cincinnati  and  Hampton  Roads  was  $1  03  per  ton  in  favor  of  the  latter  route,  and 
as  importations  could  be  made  as  cheaply  from  Liverpool  to  Hampton  Roads  as  to  New 
York,  it  will  be  decidedly  the  interest  of  Cincinnati  to  make  her  European  exports  and 
imports  by  the  Virginia  route,  in  preference  to  any  other,  both  in  view  of  time  and  ex- 
pense ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Memphis,  Tennessee,  to  Norfolk  by  railroad,  956  miles,  at  15  mills...   $14  34 

No.  14. — MempMSy  Tennessee,  to  Hampton  Boads,  by  Virginia  water  line. 

Memphis  to  Point  Pleasant   973  miles,  at  3  mills +  10  cents. .  $3  02 

Point  Pleasant  to  Hampton  Roads   610  miles,  table  No.  6   2  32 

1,583  5  34 

Difference  in  favor  of  Virginia  water  line,  $9  per  ton. 
Difference  against  Virginia  in  distance,  627  miles. 


70 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 

General  summary. 


Routes. 


Dubuque  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Dubuque  to  New  York  by  railroads  

Dubuqne  to  New  York  by  Chicago,  lakes  and  Erie  Canal.. 
Dubuque  to  New  York  by  Toledo,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal.. 
Dubuque  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  River  and  ocean... 

St.  Louis  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

St.  Louis  to  N.  York  by  Illinois  &  Michigan  and  Erie  Canals 
St.  Louis  toN.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  Erie  Canals 
St.  Louis  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  River  and  ocean.... 

Louisville  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Louisville  to  N.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  Erie  Canals 

Evansville  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Evansville  to  New  York  by  Wabash  and  Erie  Canals  

Cincinnati  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Cincinnati  to  N.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie  Canals. 

Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Miami  and  Erie  Canals  

Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Mi.ssissippi  River  and  ocean... 
Wheeling  to  Baltimore  by  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad. .. 

Wheeling  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans  

St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

Cincinnati  to  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans  

Cincinnati  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

Louisville  to  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans...  , 

Louisville  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

Memphis  to  Norfolk  by  railroad  

Memphis  to  Norfolk  by  Virginia  water  line  


1,977 
1,14.5 
1,731 
1,185 
3,515 
1,513 
1,960 
1,813 
3,051 

949 
1,249 
1,140 
1,220 

816 
1.116 
J, 019 


787 
6,529 
5,223 
6,876 
4,.')26 
6,743 
4,659 

956 

1, 


1,538 


447 
300 


300 
203 
2,582 


1,306 
2*350 
i',863 


I  ^ 


It  appears  from  the  above  tables  that  the  country  bordering  on  the  Ohio  River,  from 
Wheeling  to  its  mouth,  and  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio  up  to  St.  Paul,  and  all  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  between 
these  points,  including  a  large  part  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Ken- 
tucky, the  whole  of  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Dakota,  will  be 
tributary  to  the  Virginia  water  line,  and  may  find  through  Virginia  in  most  cases  the 
shortest,  and  in  all  cases  the  cheapest,  route  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 


CLIMATIC  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  VIRGINIA  WATER  LINE. 


The  Virginia  route  has  another  very  decided  advantage  over  the  Northern  water 
lines,  in  its  being  located  in  a  more  temperate  climate,  in  consequence  of  which  it  will 
be  open  at  least  four  months  in  the  year  when  the  Northern  canals  will  be  closed  by  ice. 

By  examining  the  reports  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  it  will  be  seen 
that  from  1840  to  1848  there  was  no  suspension  of  navigation  by  ice  reported,  except 
twelve  days  in  1845.  If  there  were  any  others,  they  must  have  been  so  slight  as  not 
to  have  attracted  attention,  or  to  have  been  deemed  unworthy  of  comment.  From 
1848  to  the  present  time,  all  suspensions  of  navigation  by  ice  have  been  reported  by  the 
superintendents,  and  have  been  as  follows  : 


Years.  ^^^^  °f 

pension. 

1848-  49    8 

1849-  50    None. 

1850-  51    None. 

1851-  52   32 

1852-  53    None. 

1853-  54    None. 

1854-  55    23 

1855-  56    55 

1856-  57    56 

1857-  58    None. 


Days  of  sus- 
Years.  pension. 

1858-  59   None. 

1859-  60    16 

1860-  61   None. 

1861-  62   None. 

1862-  63   None. 

1863-  64   21 

1864-  65   None. 

1865-  66   8 

1866-  67   42 

1867-  68   41 


We  find,  then,  that  in  a  period  of  twenty  years  the  total  number  of  days  in  which  the 
navigation  was  suspended  by  ice  amounts  to  302,  an  average  of  15  days  for  each  year. 


JAMES  KIVllE  AND  KANAWHA  CANAl. 


71 


As  these  reports  apply  to  the  canal  asTiigh  up  as  Buchanan,  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  it 
will  be  reasonable  to  infer  that  when  the  canal  reaches  its  highest  elevation  in  the  Al- 
leghanies  it  will  not  be  closed  by  ice  on  an  average  more  than  thirty  days  in  the  year, 
while  the  Erie  canal  is  closed  by  ice  about  five  months  in  the  year,  making  a  difference 
of  one-third  of  the  year  in  favor  of  the  Virginia  water  line,  and  that  at  the  very  season 
of  the  year  when  the  agricultural  products  of  the  West  are  seeking  an  eastern  market. 

CANALS  NOT  BEHIND  THE  AGE. 

There  has  been  an  opinion  prevailing  for  many  years  in  Virginia  that  the  days  of 
canals  are  numbered,  and  that  they  must  be  superseded  by  railroads.  The  only  reason 
that  I  have  ever  heard  for  this  condemnation  of  canals  is,  that  they  are  "too  slow"  and 
"behind  the  spirit  of  the  age."  But  this  is  mere  empty  assertion  without  any  argu- 
ment in  support  of  it.  The  real  question  is,  which  can  transport  the  products  of  agri- 
culture, of  the  forest  and  mines,  at  the  least  cost,  railroads  or  canals ;  and  as  the  spirit 
of  the  age  is  decidedly  money-making,  it  would  seem  that  the  improvement  by  which 
the  most  money  can  be  made  or  saved  would  be  the  very  one  that  was  not  behind  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  It  will  not  be  controverted  that  a  canal  can  transport  more  tonnage 
and  at  a  less  cost  than  a  railroad..  Instances,  no  doubt,  may  be  produced  where  rail- 
roads have  carried  freight  at  as  low  or  even  lower  price  than  canals  ;  but  if  they  have 
done  so,  it  has  always  been  at  a  loss,  and  under  peculiar  circumstances  produced  by  the 
irregularities  of  trade,  and  by  competition  with  canals. 

Thus  canals  not  only  transport  cheaply  themselves,  but  they  are  tlie  cause  of  cheap 
transportation  on  railroads,  and  are  thereby  a  double  blessing  to  the  State.  Take  away 
from  the  railroads  the  wholesome  competition  of  water  carriage,  and  the  community 
immediately  suffers  from  their  rapacity,  as  may  be  witnessed  every  winter  on  the  lake- 
shore  roads  as  soon  as  the  navigation  is  closed  by  ice. 

In  proof  of  the  assertion  that  canals  can  transport  more  tonnage  and  at  a  less  cost 
than  railroads,  take  the  following  statement  of  the  comparative  business  of  the  New 
York  canals  and  railroads  for  the  year  1866,  which  is  the  latest  report  that  has  been 
printed : 

The  total  number  of  tons  carried  on  all  the  railroads  of  the  State  during  the  year, 
from  the  1st  October,  1865,  to  30th  September,  1866,  was  9,210,476,  and  on  the  canals, 
during  the  season  of  navigation,  which  was  226  days,  5,775,220,  the  canals  transporting 
more  per  month  than  the  railroads. 

The  following  table,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  auditor  of  the  New  York  State 
canals,  shows  the  total  movement  of  tons  on  the  two  railways  connecting  New  York  with 
Lake  Erie,  and  on  the  State  canals,  during  the  year  1866,  the  freight  paid  to  the  roads, 
and  the  tolls  and  carriers'  charges  on  the  canals  : 


1866. 

Total  ton- 
nage. 

Tons  moved 
one  mile. 

Freight  and 
toll. 

Average 
per  ton 
per  mile. 

New  York  Central  Railroad. . 

1,602,197 
3,242,792 
5,775,220 

331,075,547 
478,485,772 
1,012,448,034 

$9,671,920 
17,611,023 
10,160,051 

2.92  cents. 
2.45  cents. 
1.00  cents. 

10,620,209 

1,822,209,353 

$31,442,994 

1.18  cents. 

The  above  table  "shows  that  the  cost  of  transportation  on  the  canals,  including  the 
carriers^  charges,  is  not  one-=half  of  the  cost  of  railroad  transits.  This  to  some  extent 
can  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  a  larger  proportion  of  low-priced  and  low-rated  freights 
is  carried  on  the  canals  than  on  the  raih'oad.  But  if  the  classes  of  freight,  prices  and 
rates  were  eqUal  in  their  proportions  between  the  canal  and  rail,  the  rail  transportation 
would  be  one  hundred  per  cent*  above  the  canal.  This  the  producer  loses,  or  the  con- 
sumer pays,  on  all  rail  transits,  when  that  mode  of  carriage  is  preferred  to  canals." 

It  shows,  also,  that  the  canal,  during  seven  and  a  half  months  of  the  year^  transported 
nearly  a  million  tons  more  than  two  double-track  railroads  between  the  same  points  did 
in  twelve  months,  and  did  it  at  less  than  half  the  cost. 

The  Hon.  William  J.  McAlpine,  in  a  late  address  delivered  at  Albany  on  the  public 
works  of  the  State,  uses  the  following  forcible  language  : 

"Gentlemen,  you  do  not  realize  the  importance  of  the  canals.  The  Erie  Canal  now 
conveys  one-fourth  of  the  whole  of  the  exports  of  that  vast  interior  region  which  I 
have  already  described,  and  as  much  of  it  during  its  six  months  of  uninterrupted  navi- 
gation as  all  of  the  trunk  railways  together  during  the  same  time. 

"Every  canal  boat  which  comes  to  this  city  with  an  average  cargo  is  more  than  the 


1f2 


JAMfiS  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  OANAL. 


average  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  trains.  In  the  busy  canal  season  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  such  boats  come  daily  to  tide-water,  and  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad  traffic  never  reaches  thirty  trains  per  day. 

"Such  a  canal  trafiic  would  make  more  than  twenty  miles  of  railroad  cars,  and  there 
is  neither  room  nor  convenience  for  discharging  one-fourth  of  that  number.  The  slow- 
plodding  canal-boat  attracts  no  attention,  while  the  bustle,  noise,  and  whirl  of  a  freight 
train  creates  a  sensation  in  every  village  through  which  it  passes." 

It  is  simply  fatuity,  then,  to  deride  and  undervalue  canals  because  they  are  slower 
than  railroads.  It  would  take  at  least  five  railroads  to  do  the  heavy  freighting  business 
that  could  be  done  at  half  price  by  the  canal ;  and  if  the  canal  were  constructed  it' 
would,  by  its  development  of  the  mining  and  manufacturing  interest  of  the  country 
west  of  Buchanan,  create  business  enough  for  two  or  three  railroads. 

The  canal  would  carry  the  heavy  freight  that  could  not  be  profitably  transported  on 
the  railroads,  and  the  railroads  would  monopolize  the  merchandise  and  other  freight 
demanding  rapid  transportation,  which  the  canal  could  never  take  from  them.  All 
would  get  their  own,  and  still  there  would  be  a  demand  for  more  channels  of  communi- 
cation for  the  illimitable  and  ever-increasing  products  of  the  West. 

Mr.  Mc Alpine,  in  his  report  of  1853,  conceded  that  "the  dividing  line  of  trade  be- 
tween the  Virginia  and  the  New  York  canals,  when  the  former  and  the  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  Canal  are  completed,  will  be  110  miles  north  of  Portsmouth  and  Cincinnati." 
That  was  before  the  contemplated  enlargement  of  the  Virginia  Canal.  If  his  calcula- 
tions had  been  based  on  a  canal  through  Virginia  of  greater  capacity  than  the  Erie  Canal, 
he  no  dQubt  would  have  conceded  all  that  is  now  claimed  for  it. 

In  the  annual  statement  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  Buffalo  for  the  year  1865,  re- 
ported for  the  Buffalo  Board  of  Trade,  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Walker,  there  is  an  interesting 
review  of  the  commerce  of  the  lakes  and  Erie  Canal  and  the  competing  routes,  and  first 
among  the  competing  water  routes  he  places  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  of 
which  he  says  : 

"Were  this  canal  as  large  as  the  present  Erie  Canal,  notwithstanding  its  numerous 
locks  and  its  nearly  1,900  feet  of  lockage  lift,  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  Gennessee 
Valley  Canal,  it  would,  from  its  being  open  nearly  all  the  year,  be  a  strong  competitor 
for  the  trade  of  the  western  States.  The  Ohio  River  is  as  free  as  the  lakes,  with  the 
distance  from  the  Mississippi  to  Point  Pleasant  about  the  same  as  from  the  Mississippi 
to  Buffalo.  The  States  west  of  the  Mississippi,  including  Missouri  and  Iowa,  and  those 
States  immediately  west  of  these  States  on  the  Missouri,  as  well  as  the  southern  portions 
of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  and  Kentucky,  would  be  more  immediately  tributary  to 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  than  to  the  Erie,  unless  ship  canals  should  be  con- 
structed through  Ohio  and  Indiana." 

The  Hon.  Israel  D.  Andrews,  in  his  valuable  report  on  colonial  and  lake  trade,  says  of 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal : 

"Could  this  canal  be  carried  into  the  Ohio  Valley  with  a  sufficient  supply  of  water, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  it  would  become  a  route  of  an  immense  commerce.  It  would 
strike  the  Ohio  at  a  very  favorable  point  for  through  business.  It  would  have  this  great 
advantage  over  the  more  northern  works  of  a  similar  kind,  that  it  would  be  navigable 
during  the  winter  as  Vvell  as  the  summer. 

"The  route  after  crossing  the  Alleghany  Mountains  is  vastly  rich  in  coal  and  iron,  as 
well  as  in  a  very  productive  soil.  Nothing  seems  to  be  v/anting  to  the  triumphant  suc- 
cess of  the  work  but  a  continuous  water  line  to  the  Ohio." 

It  is  a  significant  fact  as  to  the  appreciation  of  canals  at  the  north,  that  although  the 
State  of  New  York  has  expended  $55,000,000  in  the  construction  of  canals,  and  $32,- 
000,000  in  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  it  is  now  recommended  to  spend  $12,000,- 
000  more  in  the  further  enlargement  of  the  locks  on  that  canal  so  as  to  pass  boats  of 
500  tons  burden,  with  a  view  of  counteracting  the  effects  of  the  projected  ship  canal 
around  Niagara  Falls,  which  would  divert  the  trade  of  the  lakes  from  the  Erie  Canal  to 
the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

It  is  also  proposed  to  construct  a  ship  canal  from  Chicago  through  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, by  enlarging  the  present  canal  100  miles  in  length,  and  improving  the  Illinois 
River,  in  order  to  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Lower  Mississippi. 

The  proposed  improvement  is  one  of  great  magnitude,  the  locks  of  which  are  to  be 
350  feet  long  by  70  feet  wide,  and  will  involve  an  expenditure  of  $20,000,000. 

A  survey  has  been  made  for  a  ship  canal  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Lake  Erie,  and  a 
charter  granted  by  the  legislature  of  New  York  to  a  ship  canal  company  for  the  con- 
struction of  this  work,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000,000. 

Canada  is  projecting  a  new  canal  from  Lake  Huron  by  way  of  Ottawa  River  to  Mon- 
treal, which  is  estimated  to  cost  $24,000,000.  The  saving  in  distance  between  Montreal 
and  Chicago  by  this  direct  route,  almost  due  east  from  the  straits  of  Mackinac,  is  842 
miles  over  that  by  the  present  circuitous  line  through  the  lower  lakes  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence. The  locks  on  this  canal  are  to  be  250  feefe  long  by  50  feet  wide,  and  10  feet  on 
the  sills,  passing  vessels  of  1,000  tons  burden. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


73 


Another  proposed  ship  canal  is  from  Georgia  Bay,  an  outlet  of  Lake  Huron,  by  way  of 
Lake  Sinicoe  to  Toronto  on  Lake  Ontario,  a  distance  of.lOO  miles.  The  proposed  size  of 
the  locks  is  265  feet  in  length  by  55  feet  in  width,  and  the  estinicited  cost  of  the  improve- 
ment is  $22,000,000. 

The  distance  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  by  this  route,  as  compared  with  that  via 
Buffalo,  is  837  miles  less,  and  428  miles  less  than  the  route  by  the  Welland  Canal  to 
Quebec. 

These  proposed  canals  and  those  already  constructed  and  in  operation  have  all  one 
purpose  in  view,  "  to  attract  to  Canadian  channels  the  products  of  the  "Western  States 
destined  for  the  eastern  seaboard."    [E.  H.  Walker's  report.] 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  JSTew  York  and  Ci  nada  are  proposing  to  spend  about  $100,- 
000,000  in  enlarging  present  canals  and  constructing  new  ones,  and  all  for  the  single  pur- 
pose of  drawing  to  their  ports  the  great  trade  of  the  Western  States. 

Virginia,  which  has  the  route  that  is  shortest,  best,  and  longest  open,  should  lose  no 
time  and  spare  no  effort  to  secure  this  valuable  prize. 

SAVING  TO  THE  "WEST  BY  THE  COMPLETION  OF  THE  TIRGIXIA  CANAL. 

But  it  is  not  Virginia  alone  that  is  interested  in  the  completion  of  her  watrr  line. 

To  the  Western  and  ^s'orthwestern  States  it  is  a  matter  of  paramount  importance. 
These  States  demand  both  a  speedy  and  a  cheap  transit  |pr  their  exports  and  imports. 
They  have  now  the  railroads  with  their  quick  transits  but  enormous  charges,  and  the  river 
route  with  its  lower  charges,  bui  long  time  and  other  disadvantages  that  have  been 
pointed  out  and  are  well  understood.  The  Yirginia  water  line  offers  them  the  double  in- 
ducement of  rates  lower  than  either  tlie  railroad  or  river  routes,  and  an  advantage  in 
time  and  security  from  damage  over  the  latter,  which  will  insure  to  it  the  jDreference  for 
the  transportation  of  grain  and  provisions. 

San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  and  Richmond  are  nearly  on  the  same  parallel  of  latitude, 
and  a  line  drawn  through  these  cities  is  nearly  the  central  line  of  the  United  States, 
and  will  be  the  central  line  of  the  trade  of  the  world.  All  that  is  needed  is  the  comple- 
tion of  eighty  miles  of  canal,  and  the  improvement  of  the  natural  water-courses,  to 
have  a  navigable  water  line  from  Liverpool  to  Omaha,  nearly  due  west,  5,900  miles 
long.^ 

This  striking  feature  in  this  route,  together  with  its  having  the  most  accessible,  ca- 
pacious, safe,  and  deep  harbor  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  cannot  fail  to  make  it,  if  once 
completed,  the  great  highway  of  traffic  and  emigration  from  Europe  to  the  Western 
States. 

At  a  moderate  calculation  the  amount  that  would  be  saved  to  the  West  by  this  route 
would  be  an  average  of  $2  per  ton  on  the  river  route,  and  at  least  $10  per  ton  over  the 
railroad  lines. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  $40,000,000  a  year  could__be  saved  to  the  West  by  the 
completion  of  the  Virginia  water  line  on  the  freight  that  would  pass  c  ver  that  route,  be- 
sides a  yield  of  10  or  15  per  cent,  interest  on  the  capital  invested  in  the  improvement. 
But  the  effect  of  the  completion  of  the  Virginia  water  line  will  be  not  only  to  open  a 
cheaper  route  for  transportation  from  the  West,  but  to  reduce  the  cl^arges  on  all  the 
competing  lines,  and  thereby  lessen  the  cost  of  transportation^ on  the  whole  trade  of  the 
West  to  the  extent,  probably,  of  one  hundred  miUion  dollars  per  annum. 

I  have  thus  endeavored,  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  possible,  to  give  the  historj^  and  char- 
acter of  the  Virginia  water  line,  with  my  own  views  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
should  be  completed,  and  the  advantages  that  it  will  then  possess  over  other  lines  of  com- 
munication with  the  West. 

This  latter  part  of  the  subject  I  have  barely  touched  upon.  To  elucidate  it  fully 
would  require  more  time  than  I  could  Avell  spare  from  my  other  duties.  I  therefore 
leave  to  you  or  to  others  to  present  the  political,  economical,  and  commercial  aspects  of 
this  question  to  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  the  West,  with  the  hope  that  a  full 
understanding  of  its  merits  will  lead  to  a  speedy  completion  of  this  great  work. 
Very  respectfully, 

E.  LORRAINE, 

Chief  Engineer  James  Biver  and  Kanawha  Company, 
Charles  S.  Carrington,  Esq., 

President  of  the  James  River  and  Kanaioha  Company. 


Letter  from  General  Charles  P.  Stone. 
Dover  Company,  Offfice  of  Engineer  and  StJFERiNTENDENT, 

Dover  Mines^  Virginia,  October  12,  1868. 
Dear  Sir  :  It  is  a  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request  for  a  written  expression  of  the 
conclusions  arrived  at  after  a  somewhat  careful  study  of  the  plan  recently  suggested 
by  your  company's  able  engineer  and  superintendent  to  change  the  location  of  the  pro- 
posed extension  of  your  canal  near  the  summit  level  in  Greenbrier  County, 

10 


n 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


Comparing  the  engineering  difficulties  and  advantages  of  the  two  routes  proposed,  I  do 
not  hesitate  in  expressing  the  opinion  that  the  advantages  would  be  far  greater  and  the 
difficulties  less  in  following  the  short  route  proposed  by  Mr.  Lorraine. 

The  long  route  requires  the  following  operations,  which,  while  practicable,  are  yet  dif- 
ficult and  require  good  engineering  and  very  perfect  work  : 

First.  A  tunnel  through  the  summit  mountain  of  2^  miles  in  length,  approached  at  each 
end  by  a  long  through  cut. 

Second.  The  construction  of  forty-four  first-class  locks,  twenty-two  on  each  side  of 
the  mountain. 

Third.  A  reservoir  capable  of  retaining  a  body  of  water  sufficient  for  yielding  a  daily 
flow  of  more  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  gallons,  and  this  of  such  perfect  construc- 
tion as  to  never  fail  in  its  duty,  since  failure  of  water  would  be  as  efficient  a  barrier  to 
barges  as  the  untunneled  mountain  itself. 

Fourth.  A  feeder  tunnel  2J  miles  long. 

Fifth.  A  dam.  across  Dry  Creek  20  feet  high,  of  such  solid  construction  as  never  to  be 
in  danger  of  giving  way. 
Sixth.  A  feeder  canal  2^  miles  long. 

I  repeat  all  this  is  quite  practicable,  but  the  work  is  of  great  magnitude  and  of  various 
kinds. 

On  the  short  route,  as  pro|Toscd  by  your  engineer,  the  above  questions  are  all  ren- 
dered unnecessary,  and  in  their  place  arc  substituted  the  following,  more  practicable  but 
more  expensive  : 

First.  The  driving  of  a  tunnel  9  miles  long,  or,  in  effect,  nine  tunnels,  each  1  mile 
long,  56  feet  wide,  and  32  feet  high. 

Second.  The  construction  of  a  strong,  perfect  dam  across  the  Greenbrier  River  to 
make  it  sure  as  a  feeder. 

Of  the  above  nine  tunnels  Mr.  Lorraine  proposes  to  drive  seven,  each  between  two 
shafts  12  feet  in  diameter  ;  two  between  a  shaft  at  one  end  and  a  thorough  cut  at  the 
other. 

Assuming  that  Mr.  Lorraine  is  correct  in  his  information  that  eiglit  shafts  can  bo 
located  at  the  proper  points,  which  shall  have  an  average  depth  of  425"feet,  I  think  that 
any  engineer  would  vast!}''  prefer  undertaking  the  construction  of  the  short  rather  than 
the  long  route,  for  the  two  reasons  :  first,  that  there  would  be  fewer  difficulties  in  the 
work  ;  and  second,  he  would,  after  faithfully  performing  his  duty  upon  the  nine  tun- 
nels and  one  dam,  turn  his  work  over,  feeling  that  nothing  short  of  a  convulsion  of 
nature,  or  the  intentional  work  of  man,  could  interrupt  navigation  there  for  centuries  ; 
while  he  would  leave  the  long  route,  with  its  complicated  constructions,  feeling  that 
he  might  at  any  time  learn  that  by  the  mere  carelessness  of  man,  or  the  ordinary  vicis- 
situdes of  the  seasons,  navigation  had  been  there  suspended  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
period. 

As  regards  the  feasibility  of  the  succession  of  tunnels,  I  think  there  can  be  no  question. 

By  the  sinking  of  eight  shafts  the  matter  is  reduced  to  the  driving  of  nine  tunnels, 
each  1  mile  long  ;  so  that  it  is  really  a  question  at  each  point  of  driving  a  mile  of  tunnel. 
More  than  that  has  been  done  in  Virginia  and  can  be  done  again. 

As  to  the  feasibility  of  tlfe  dam  across  Greenbrier  River,  I  supjjose  no  one  who  con- 
siders it  practicable  to  build  a  mound  of  sufficient  strength  to  form  a  large  lake  from  the 
waters  of  Anthony's  Creek,  will  hold  the  dam  to  be  either  impracticable  or  even  a  diffi- 
cult operation. 

If  it  be  conceded,  then,  that  Mr.  Lorraine's  plan  is  feasible  as  an  engineering  opera- 
tion, it  remains  to  consider  the  time  and  money  to  which  he  limits  himself  for  its  execu- 
tion. He  has  kindly  furnished  me  Avith  his  estimates  and  their  general  basis,  to  which  I 
have  given  serious  attention. 

The  first  operation  would  necessarily  be  the  sinking  of  the  eight  shafts  and  opening 
the  two  thorough  cuts.  He  provides^for  eight  shafts  each  12  feet  in  diameter  and  425 
feet  deep,  and  allows  for  each  $35,604. 

Not  having  before  me  the  profile  of  the  mountain,  I  cannot  estimate  the  cost  of  the 
thorough  cuts ;  but  he  has  certainly  overestimated  the  necessary  cost  of  the  shafts,  and 
that  very  considerably,  and  his  estimate  of  time  is  perfectly  safe.  I  speak  positively 
upon  this  matter,  because  speaking  from  experience  in  shaft-sinking  through  very  much 
the  same  kind  of  rock  as  he  will  probably  have  to  contend  with. 

I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  rocks  there,  but  find  in  the  geo- 
logical profile  of  the  State,  by  Professor  William  B.  Rogers,,  (whose  section  passes  very 
near  the  line  of  the  proposed  tunnel,)  the  following  description:  "Organic  limestone 
on  top,  red  and  green  sandstones  below ;"  and  the  strata  appear  to  be  nearly  horizontal. 

If  the  best  hoisting  machinery  shall  be  provided,  I  am  confident  that  experienced 
sinkers,  with  good  tools  and  explosives,  will  be  able  to  put  these  shafts  down  at  the 
rate  of  at  least  40  feet  per  month.  Indeed,  I  have  had  a  shaft  10  feet  in  diameter  sunk 
through  slates  and  sandstones  at  rates  varying  from  10  to  14  feet  per  week,  using  only 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


75 


hand-drills  and  gunpowder.  In  this  work  three  shifts  of  hands  were  employed,  each 
working  eight  hours  in  the  twenty-four. 

Mr.  Lorraine's  estimate  of  time,  then,  is  safe,  and  his  estimate  of  cost  is  sufficient 
not  only  to  sink  the  shafts,  but  also  to  furnisli  each  of  them  with  suitable  machinery 
for  hoisting  all  the  debris  from  the  tunnels  in  the  progress  of  their  driving. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  the  best  of  machinery  and  of  fully  sufficient  powe? 
should  be  provided,  since-  in  driving  the  tunnels  at  the  rate  of  100  feet  per  month  in 
two  directions  from  each  shaft,  it  would  be  neccessary  to  raise  from  each,  debris  at  the 
rate  of  at  least  one-third  of  a  ton  per  minute,  supposing  the  hoisting-engine  to  run 
night  and  day  for  three  hundred  days  In  the  year. 

It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Lorraine  may  find  it  advantageous  to  give  his  shafts  an  oval 
cross  section  rather  tlian  a  circular  of  some  area,  in  order  to  provide  an  unimpeded 
hoisting  space  of  sufficient  size,  and  yet  leave  room  for  the  pumping  machinery  which 
may  be  needed. 

Within  the  year,  while  the  sinking  of  the  shafts  shall  be  progressing,  full  preparation 
and  organization  for  rapid  work  upon  the  tunnels  can  be  made  ;  and  you  have  not  only 
the  high  engineering  authority  of  Mr.  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  but  the  examples  of  work 
done  to  prove  that  a  monthly  progress  of  100  feet  on  each  face  of  the  tunnels  can  be 
accomplished.  Mr.  Lorraine  is,  therefore,  doubtless  safe  in  his  estimate  of  the  time  in 
which  the  work  can  be  performed,  and,  if  provided  with  tl|e  means,  he  could  fairly  ex- 
pect to  complete  his  constructions  and  open  the  route  within  four  years  from  the  day 
of  breaking  ground.  A  wise  economy  would  suggest  the  pressing  of  the  work  with  all 
possible  speed. 

I  have  gone  over  the  calculations  on  the  cost  of  the  tunnels,  and  believe  that  Mr. 
Lorraine  has  been  liberal  in  his  allowances  for  the  cost  of  excavating  and  removing  the 
rock,  provided  full  preparations  shall  precede  the  work,  and  energy  and  economy  direct 
it.  The  reserve  fund  in  his  estimate  for  pumping,  masonry,  and  other  contingencies, 
seems  to  me  to  be  sufficiently  large,  unless  there  should  be  a  great  advance  in  the  price 
of  labor  and  material. 

If,  now,  it  be  conceded  that  the  plan  is  feasible,  and  that  it  can  be  carried  out  within 
the  time  and  for  the  amount  of  money  estimated,  the  only  point  remaining  to  be  dis- 
cussed is,  whether  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  adoption  of  Mr.  Loraine's  plan 
are  not  sufficiently  great  to  justify  an  increased  cost  in  so  large  a  sum  as  $7,500,000. 

To  justify  such  expenditure  great  advantages  should  be  proved,  and  that  such  exist, 
I  think,  is  the  easiest  matter  to  be  proved  in  all  the  discussion. 

The  object  of  your  canal  is  to  open  water  communication  between  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  In  other  words,  to  give  a  water  outlet  to  the  world  for 
the  products  of  about  half  a  dozen  empires. 

If  it  be  worth  while  to  open  this  route  at  all  it  will  be  found,  when  once  opened, 
that  its  great  defect,  though  made  as  perfect  as  possible,  will  be  its  want  of  sufficient 
capacity ;  and  it  will  be  wise  either  to  abandon  altogether  the  project  of  continuing  the 
canal  to  Kanawha  the  River,  or  else  to  adopt  the  plan  which,  without  such  cost  as  will 
place  Its  construction  beyond  the  pecuniary  means  of  a  great  nation,  will  give  it  the 
largest  possible  capacity. 

Let  us  examine  the  matter  of  increased  capacity  by  the  short  route,  and  see  what  the 
difference  amounts  to. 

In  considering  this  question  I  shall  not  pursue  the  same  course  with  Mr.  Lorraine, 
and  estimate  that  the  canal  will  be  einployed  to  only  one  half  of  its  capacity  for,  I 
believe,  if  this  great  work  is  once  faithfully  carried  out,  you  will  find  its  full  capacity 
wholly  insufficient  to  answer  the  demands  of  the  great  West. 

The  short  route  will  offer  the  following  as  some  of  its  advantages  over  the  long  one  : 

1.  It  will  save  to  every  barge  using  the  canal,  on  each  trip,  ihe  passage  of  forty-four 
locks,  almost  as  many  as  arc  required  for  lifting  a  barge  from  Riclnnond  to  Lynchburg. 

2.  It  vvill  save  in  actual  distance  towed  to  each  barge  each  trip  4  miles. 

3.  It  will  save  to  all  barges  using  its  facilities  the  uncertainty  resting  upon  the  con- 
dition as  regards  the  repair  and  working  order  of  the  forty-four  locks. 

4.  It  will  save  all  barges  the  risk  of  stoppage  arising  from  the  possible  failure  of 
supply  in  the  great  reservoir  at  the  summit,  required  by  the  present  plan  of  the  im- 
provement, and  from  damages  to  the  reservoir,  feeder,  &c. 

Supposing  the  canal  to  be  working  to  its  full  capacity,  192  boats  per  day  would  pass 
the  summit,  and  leaving  out  of  the  calculation  the  amount  of  injury  which  these  boats 
would  receive  in  passing  through  forty-four  locks,  there  would  be,  each  day,  (allowing 
7^  minutes  for  the  passage  of  each  lock)  a  loss  of  time  equal  to  44  days  of  one  barge, 
or  say  a  daily  loss  of  transportation  on  the  canal  by  following  the  long  route,  of  at  least 
1,000  tons  of  freight;  that  is,  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  canal  would  be  reduced  by 
more  than  300,000  tons  per  year  by  the  time  lost  simply  in  the  passage  of  the  forty-four 
locks.  I  should  estimate  the  injury  to  canal  barges,  in  passing  these  locks,  as  high  as 
$50,000  per  annum. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


The  saving  from  the  second  cause,  by  the  Lorraine  route,  would  amount  to  increasing 
the  capacity  of  the  canal  by,  say  about  240,000  tons  per  annum. 

The  freight  on  540,000  tons,  at  the  moderate  rate  pf  $1  94  for  the  whole  distance, 
would  be  $1,047,600. 

Thus  the  Lorraine  route  would  offer  increased  capacity  equal  in  value  to  the  trans- 
.porters  to  more  than  $1,000,000  per  annum. 

This  increased  capacity,  if  taken  advantage  of  by  the  carriers,  would  yield  an  in- 
crease of  revenue  to  the  canal  of  say  $1,500,000,  and  I  think  Mr.  Lorraine  very  moderate 
when  he  places  his  estimate  at  826,400  as  a  sum  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  and  re- 
pair per  year  of  forty  four  locks,  the  reservoir,  mound,  and  feeder  tunnel. 

Another  means  of  increasing  the  capacity  of  the  canal  by  the  short  route,  which  does 
not  exist  by  the  long  one,  is  touched  upon  by  Mr.. Lorraine,  but  only  slightly,  in  his 
report. 

It  is  understood  that  barges  will  be  towed  by  steamers  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the 
dam  on  Greenbrier  Eiver. 

By  the  long  route  the  Greenbrier  dam  would  necessarily  be  the  point  where  steam 
power  would  cease  to  be  used,  and  towing  by  animals  would  commence.  By  the  Lor- 
raine route  the  steam-tug  could  be  and  would  be  u»ed  for  towing  the  barges  to  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  in  this  another  very  large 
increase  in  capacity.  il 

To  conclude  this  review  I  cannot  better  express  my  opinion  of  the  value  of  Mr.  Lor- 
raine's proposition  than  by  using  his  own  words  :  "  For  my  part  I  cannot  see  any  objec- 
tions to  it,  but,  on  the  contray,  see  everything  to  recommend  it." 
Very  respectfully,  I  am  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  P.  STONE. 

Charles  S.  Cakrington,  Esq., 

Fresident  James  Fdver  and  Kanaioha  Comimny,  Bichmond, 


MEMORIAL  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  VIRGINIA  TO  THE  CONGRESS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  RELATIVE  TO  WATER  COMMUNICATION  BE- 
TWEEN THE  ATLANTIC  AND  MISSISSIPPI. 

To  the  Senate  and  Rouse  of  Fiepresentatives  of  the  United  States : 

Respctfully  represent  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  shorter,  cheaper,  and  better  chan- 
nel of  communication  between  the  Western  States  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

That  such  a  channel  can  be  obtained  through  Virginia  by  connecting  the  waters  of 
the  James  and  the  Greenbrier  and  improving  tl)e  Greenbrier,  'New,  and  Kanawha 
Rivers. 

That  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  this  work  when  com.pleted  would  be  enjoyed 
equally  by  the  Eastern  and  Western  States  and  by  a  majority  of  the  States  of  the  Union, 
and  that  in  the  case  of  hostile  invasion  it  would  be  invaluable  to  the  Government  as  an 
interior  means  of  communication  by  which  supplies  in  large  quantities  could  be  cheaply 
and  safely  transported  from  the  West  to  the  eastern  cities,  and  that  for  these  reasons  it 
may  justly  and  properly  be  considered  a  national  work. 

That  the  States  of  Virginia  and  West  V^irginia,  through  which  this  work  passes,  are 
unable  to  complete  it,  and  feel  justified,  in  consideration  of  the  general  benefits  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  the  peculiar  benefits  to  the  General  Government,  in 
soliciting  its  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  this  great  enterprise. 

The  necessity  for  a  shorter  and  cheaper  channel  of  communication  between  the 
Western  States  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  is  clearly  shown  by  the  present  charges  upon 
the  transportation  of  grain  from  the  Northwestern  States  to  New  York. 

The  charges  on  wheat  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  New  York,  by  railroad,  when  the 
canals  are  closed,  average  seventy-two  cents  per  bushel,  and  even  by  water  tranporta- 
tion  from  Chicago  the  charges  sometimes  amount  to  fifty-six  cents  per  bushel,*  or  about 
sixty-two  cents  per  bushel  from  the  Mississippi  River ;  so  tliat  the  farmers  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River  have  to  pay  about  one  half  of  their  crops  to  get  the  other  half  to 
market.  In  fact,  the  charges  on  wheat  from  the  Northwestern  States  are  so  onerous 
that  it  is  questionable  whether  there  is  any  profit  in  its  cultivation,  and  if  some  remedy 
is  not  speedily  applied  its  production  for  exportation  from  those  States  will  be, greatly 
diminished,  if  not  altogether  abandoned. 

This  state  of  things  is  produced  by  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  means  of  transpor- 
tation, the  pressure  on  the  water  routes  being  so  great  during  the  limited  season  between 
the  harvesting  of  the  crops  and  the  closing  of  navigation  that  exorbitant  prices  are 
demanded  for  freight,  and  the  distance  by  railroad  is  so  great  that  transportation  c%n 
never  be  brought  down  to  a  price  that  will  leave  a  sufficient  profit  to  the  farmer  and  at 
the  same  time  be  remunerative  to  the  railroads. 


*  Svje  Report  of  National  Board  of  Trade  on  a  Continuous  Water  Line,  p  33. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


77 


The  effect  of  the  high  prices  of  freight  is  to  depress  the  agricultural  Interests  of  the 
States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  to  discourage  and  check  immigration. 

That  these  evil  influences  may  be  removed,  that  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
West  may  be  protected,  and  that  immigration  may  be  encouraged,  it  is  necessary  that 
cheaper  transportation  shall  be  provided  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  seaboard. 

The  multiplication  or  the  consolidation  of  railroads  will  not  effect  the  desired  end, 
because,  as  above  stated,  the  distance  is  too  great  for  agricultural  products  to  be  carried 
by  rail  at  a  profit. 

'  A  sufficiently  cheap  transit  can  be  obtained  by  water,  and  by  opening  a  communica- 
tion from  the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  the  Ohio  River  and  the  Virginia  water  line,  to  the 
Capes  of  Virginia. 

This  route  will  consist  of  the  Ohio  River,  from  its  mouth  to  Point  Pleasant,  a  distance 
of  728  miles  ;  the  Kanawha.  New,  and  Greenbrier  Rivers,  208  miles ;  the  James  River 
and  Kanawha  Canal,  (including  46  miles  slack-water  navigation,)  from  Greenbrier  River 
to  Richmond,  272  miles  ;  and  James  River  to  Hampton  Roads,  125  miles.  T«tal  dis- 
tance from  mouth  of  Ohio  to  Hampton  Roads  1,333  miles. 

To  perfect  this  route,  it  is  proposed  to  improve  the  Kanawha  River  from  its  mouth  to 
Lyken's  Shoals  for  sluice  navigation  ;  thence  to  improve  that  river  and  the  New  and 
Greenbrier  Rivers  by  locks  and  dams,  for  steamboat  navigation,  to  the  mouth  of  How- 
ard's Creek,  and  to  cut  a  canal  from  Howard's  Creek  to  Buchanan,  76  miles,  of  the 
same  size  as  the  Erie  Canal,  with  locks  120  feet  long  and  20  feet  wide  ;  and  to  enlarge 
to  the  same  dimensions  the  canal  already  made  from  Buchanan  to  Richmond,  196  miles. 
The  total  length  of  improved  river  and  canal  navigation  will  be  480  miles  ;  of  which 
254  miles  will  be  river  and  slack-water  navigation,  and  226  miles  canal  navigation. — 
Constructed  upon  this  scale  the  canal  would  be  adapted  to  boats  carrying  280  tons,  and 
would  have  a  capacity  of  14,000,000  tons  annually. 

But  there  is  no  necessity  that  the  canal  should  be  restricted  to  this  size.  It  could  be 
made  sufficiently  large  to  afccommodate  boats  of  500  tons,  and  would  then  have  a  ca- 
pacity of  21,600,000  tons. 

When  this  route  shall  have  been  completed,  it  is  believed  that  it  will  present  the 
shortest,  cheapest,  and  the  best  line  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic. 

The  distance  from  Mississippi  to  Hampton  Roads  by  this  route  is  1,333  miles. 

The  distance  by  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  the  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal,  to  New 
York,  is  1,919  miles. 

By  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  improvement  and  lakes  to  New  York,  it  is  1,560  miles. 
By  the  most  direct  railroad  route  to  Chicago,  and  thence  by  the  lakes  to  New  York, 
it  is  1,731  miles. 

By  the  Ohio  River j  Wabash  Canal,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal  to  New  York,  it  is  1,418  miles. 
By  the  Ohio  River,  Ohio  Canal,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal  to  New  York,  it  is  1,638  miles. 
The  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  by  the  Mississippi  River  and  Gulf  to  New 
York  is  2,876  miles. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  distance  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  Hampton  Roads  by 
the  central  water  line  is  less  by  83  miles  than  the  shortest  water  route  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  New  York  ;  586  miles  less  than  by  the  longest  northern  water  route,  and  1,543 
miles  less  than  by  the  Gulf  route. 

It  will  also  be  the  cheapest  route  for  all  points  on  the  Mississippi  River  between  Mem- 
phis and  Dubuque  ;  for,  although  there  may  be  a  slight  diflerence  in  the  actual  cost  of 
transportation  in  favor  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  and  lake  route  to  New  York,  the  fact 
that  the  latter  route  will  be  so  much  sooner  closed  by  ice,  and  the  consequent  great 
pressure  on  it  in  in  the  fall  months,  will  continue  to  operate  unfavorably  to  cheapness 
of  transportation.  The  charges  on  Avheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York  b}^  the  lakes  and 
canal  during  this  pressure  go  up  as  high  as  fifty-six  cents  per  bushel,  while  on  the  cen- 
tral water  line,  wheat  can  be  carried  for  at  least  ten  months  in  the  year,  and  frequently 
all  the  year  round,  without  any  hurry  or  pressure  for  fear  of  being  frozen  up,  at  the 
rate  of  twenty-seven  cents  per  bushel.  There  will  thus  be  a  saving,  as  compared  with 
the  cheapest  route,  at  some  seasons,  of  twenty-nine  cents  per  bushel  ;  and  as  the  rail- 
roads charge  on  an  average  from  sixty  to  seventy  cents  per  bushel,  there  will  be  a 
saving,  as  to  those  routes,  of  from  thirty-three  to  forty-three  cents  per  bushel.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  safely  assumed  that  an  average  saving  of  thirty  cents  per  bushel  on  the 
transportation  of  grain  from  the  Northwestern  States  to  the  Atlantic  will  be  effected 
by  the  opening  of  the  Virginia  water  line. 

Besides  being  the  shortest  and  cheapest  route,  it  will  also  be  the  best. 

It  will  be  better  than  the  northern  route  by  the  lakes  and  Erie  Canal,  because  that 
route  is  closed  for  five  months  in  the  year,  and  at  the  very  time  when  there  is  the  great- 
est demand  for  transportation.  It  will  also  be  better  than  that  route  on  account  of  the 
great  risk  and  danger  to  which  navigation  is  subjected  by  the  boisterous  weather  and 
the  storms  that  prevail  on  the  lakes  during  the  fall  and  winter  months. 

It  will  be  better  than  the  route  by  Isqw  Orleans  and  the  Gulf,  on  account  of  the 


78 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


greater  length  of  that  route,  the  loss  of  time  thereby,  and  the  great  risk  attending  the 
navigation  by  the  Florida  Pass. 

It  will  be  better  than  both  of  those  routes,  because  it  lies  wholly  within  the  territory 
of  the  United  States,  and  will  open  an  internal  navigation  from  the  Ohio,  Mississippi, 
and  Missouri  Rivers  and  their  branches  by  way  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  Chesapeake 
and  Delaware  Canal,  the  Delaware  River,  and  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  to  Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  that  will  be  secure  from  the  attacks  of  an  enemy 
in  time  of  war,  thus  affording  a  safe  and  cheap  means  of  transporting  supplies 
from  the  interior  to  the  seaboard  cities  which  would  be  impracticable  by  the  other  routes. 

If  we  should  have  a  war  with  Great  Britain  the  routes  by  the  Gulf  and  the  lakes 
would  be  closed  to  commerce,  and  the  railroads  would  be  insufficient  to  carry  the  addi- 
tional freight  that  would  be  thrown  upon  them.  There  would  then  be  no  avenue  by 
which  the  products  of  the  TVest  could  be  carried  to  the  Atlantic  cities.  The  conse- 
quences would  be  a  scarcity  of  provisions,  high  prices,  and  great  suffering  in  the  East, 
and  no  market,  no  money,  and  general  dissatisfaction  and  depression  in  the  West. 

A  new  water  route  is  therefore  indispensably  necessary,  and  is  demanded  as  much 
for  the  interests  of  the  Eastern  as  of  the  Western  States,  and  indeed  for  the  whole 
country. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  exportation  of  cereals  from  the  States  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  that  would  use  tlie  Virginia  v/ater  line,  if  their  increased  production  is  not 
checked  by  want  of  transportation,  will,  in  1880,  amount  to  500,000,000  bushels.  Of 
this  crop  the  Virginia  canal,  if  constructed  on  the  scale  now  proposed,  could  carry  200,- 
000,000  bushels,  at  a  saving  of  thirty  cents  per  bushel  on  the  present  prices,  which 
would  be  a  saving  of  860,000,000  per  annum  on  a  part  of  the  crop.  But  the  competi- 
tion produced  by  the  opening  of  this  line  would  have  the  effect  of  cheapening  trans- 
portation on  all  the  other  lines  ;  and  if  the  saving  by  the  use  of  this  line  should  be  only  ten 
cents  on  the  bushel  on  the  whole  crop,  it  would  amount  to  $50,000,000  annually,  which 
is  more  than  the  estimated  cost  of  the  v/ork;  There  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  shadow  of 
a  doubt  that  this  work  would  pay  for  itself  in  one  year,  by  the  cheapening  of  trans- 
portation on  grain  alone,  because,  although  the  Virginia  Canal  would  be  inadequate  to 
carry  the  whole  surplus  product  of  the  AVest,  still  the  effect  of  its  construction  would 
be  to  cheapen  transportation  on  other  lines  at  least  ten  cents' on  the  bushel,  and,  there- 
fore, would  affect  the  whole  grain  crop  of  the  West  to  the  amount  stated,  and  put  that 
much  money  in  the  pockets  of  the  farmers. 

The  question  of  cheap  food  is  one  of  vital  importance  to  the  Eastern  States.  Cheap 
food  makes  cheap  labor,  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  success  of  manufactures.  High 
prices  of  food  cause  a  demand  for  higher  prices  of  labor,  strikes  among  the  operatives, 
interruptions  to  business,  and  general  distress  and  loss  in  manufacturing  communities. 

Cheap  transportation  would  have  the  effect  of  reducing  the  price  of  provisions,  and 
would  thereby  benefit  the  manufacturers  of  the  East  as  much  as  it  would  the  farmers 
of  the  West. 

The  people  of  the  East  are  interested  in  this  work  in  another  way.  Its  construction 
would  develop  the  inexhaustible  mines  of  coal  of  the  Kanawha  Valley,  and  would 
throw  into  the  markets  of  the  East  the  best  cannel,  splint,  and  bituminous  coals  ;  and 
if  the  canal  should  be  thrown  open  free  of  toll,  these  coals  could  be  sent  from  the 
Kanawha  Valley  to  New  York  at  a  less  price  than  the  Cumberland  and  Pennsylvania 
coals. 

The  development  of  this  coal  and  of  the  immense  beds  of  iron  ore  of  East  and  West 
Virginia,  in  close  proximity  to  each  other,  and  on  the  very  borders  of  the  canal,  and  of 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad,  would  open  up  a  new  and  boundless  field  for  the  en- 
terprise and  mechanical  skill  of  the  whole  country. 

The  immense  trade  that  would  be  thrown  on  the  canal  and  the  railroad  by  the  de- 
velopment of  this  almost  virgin  country,  and  by  the  opening  of  a  cheaper  line  of  com- 
munication with  the  West,  and  which  would  seek  a  market  through  the  capes  of  Vir- 
ginia, Avould  revive  and  give  a  new  impetus  to  commercial  and  shipping  interests  of  the 
eastern  cities. 

Thus  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  West,  the  manufacturing  and  commercial  in- 
terests of  the  East,  and  the  defensive  capacity  of  the  country,  Aviil  be  promoted  by  the 
opening  of  this  water  line,  and  it  is  for  these  reasons  that  Virginia,  unable  to  finish 
this  work,  asks  the  aid  of  the  Government  in  completing  this  great  improvement, 
which  appears  to  be  so  necessary  for  the  prosperity,  progress,  and  power  of  the  whole 
country. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  work  is  $40,000,000,  and  it  is  confidently  believed  that  it 
can  be  completed  in  four  years. 

It  is  respectfully  asked  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall,  in  such  way  as 
may  seem  to  them  best,  either  by  direct  appropriation  or  by  a  loan  of  the  credit  of  the 
Government,  furnish  the  means  of  executing  the  work  in  four  years. 

On  her  part,  the  State  of  Virginia,  West  Virginia  concurring,  will  releue  the  inter- 
est of  the  two  States  in  the  work ;  will  relinquish  all  of  her  interest  in  the  work, 


JAMES  RIVER  AM)  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


79 


which  is  represented  by  more  than  $10,000,000,  of  which  $7,400,000  is  preferred  stock 
money  actually  expended  in  prosecuting  the  work  to  Buchannan ;  and  will  turn  the 
t     work  over  to  the  Government  to  be  completed  in  such  manner  as  Congress  may  direct. 

If  Congress  shall  see  fit  to  complete  the  work  by  direct  appropriation,  Avithout  a 
return  of  the  principal  and  interest,  Virginia,  AVest  Virginia  concurring,  will  further 
agree  that  the  water  line,  as  soon  as  completed,  shall  be  thrown  open  to  the  public  free 
of  toll,  except  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  keep  the  work  in  repair. 

This  suggestion  is  made  with  the  broad  view  that  it  is  a  work  in  which  the  whole 
nation  will  be  the  stockholder,  and  that  the  money  paid  for  its  construction  will  be 
more  than  returned,  every  year,  principal  and  interest,  in  the  saving  in  the  cost  of 
transportation,  the  cheapening  of  provisions,  and  the  general  development  and  pros- 
perity of  the  country. 

But  if  this  view  should  not  prevail,  it  is  not  doubted  that  the  money  advanced  by 
the  Government  could  be  speedily  returned,  both  principal  and  interest,  from  the  reve- 
nues derived  from  tolls,  and  when  that  shall  have  been  done,  then  the  State  will  consent 
that  the  Avater  line  shall  forever  be  a  public  highway  free  of  toll,  except  for  purposes  of 
repair. 

The  State  of  Virginia  will  agree  that  the  work  shall  be  prosecuted  either  under  the 
management  of  the  company,  subject  to  such  regulations-and  restrictions  as  Congress 
may  impose  ;  or  by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  States  of  Virginia  and  West  Vir- 
ginia, who  will  hold  the  property  as  a  sacred  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country, 
under  like  regulations  ;  or  that  tiie  prosecution  of  the  work  and  the  management  of  the 
property,  when  it  shall  have  been  completed,  shall  be  committed  to  a  board  of  eleven 
trustees,  one  of  whom  shall  be  appointod  by  the  President  of  the  United 'States,  and 
one  each  by  the  States  of  loAva,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
Virginia,  West  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  as  recommended  by  the  national  board  of  trade 
at  its  annual  session  in  December  last,  or  in  any  other  way  in  which  its  construction 
and  management  Avill  best  promote  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  whole  country. 

It  is  proper,  however,  to  state  that  there  is  a  funded  and  floating  debt  due  by  the 
James  Kiver  and  Kanawha  Company,  amounting  to  about  $  750,000,  and  that  stock  of 
the  company  to  the  amount  of  20,000  shares,  the  present  market  value  of  Avhich  is 
$100,000,  is  held  by  private  stockholders,  and  that  any  pledge  given  by  the  State  look- 
ing to  the  relinquishment  of  the  interests  of  the  company,  or  the  exemption  from  tolls, 
must  be  subordinate  to  the  rights  of  the  creditors  and  private  stockholders  of  the  com- 
pany, which,  in  view  of  the  small  amount  involved,  could  no  doubt  be  easily  adjusted. 

1.  Besolved  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  That  our  Senators  in 
Congress  be  instructed,  and  our  Kepresentatives  requested,  to  use  their  best  efforts  to 
obtain  such  aid  from  the  General  Government  as  will  secure  the  early  completion  of 
the  line  of  Avater  communication  betAveen  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  in  the  manner  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  memorial,  and  upon  such  terms  and 
conditions  as  Avill  best  promote  the  interests  of  the  Avhole  country. 

2.  Besolved,  That  the  governor  of  the  State  be  requested  to  forward  a  copy  of  these 
joint  resolutions  and  accompanying  memorial  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  RepresentatiA'es,  and  to  each 
of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Agreed  to  March  11,  1870. 

J.  BELL  BIGGER, 
C.  E.  D.  and  K.  of  R.  of  Va. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  BOARD  OF  TRADE  ON  A 
CONTINUOUS  WATER  LINE  OF  TRANSPORTATION  THROUGH  VIRGINIA. 

To  the  National  Board  of  Trade  of  the  United  States  of  America : 

During  the  annual  session  of  your  honorable  body,  AA'hich  AA'as  held  in  December  last 
at  Cincinnati,  you  had  under  consideration  the  following  resolutions,  presented  by  the 
Louisville  Board  of  Trade  : 

1.  "  Besolved,  That  cheap  transportaticn  for  its  heavy  products  to  the  markets  of  the 
world  is  not  only  a  necessity  to  the  West,  but  equally  demanded  by  the  best  interests 
of  the  AAiiole  country. 

2.  Besolved,  That  the  most  feasible  plan  to  secure  this  end,  is  to  proA'ide  a  direct 
and  continuous  line  of  Avater  communication  betvreen  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  in  a  latitude  favorable  to  the  safe  carriage  of  grain  in  bulk,  and  yet  com- 
paratively free  from  obstructions  by  frost ;  that  sucii  a  communication  can  be  readily 
secured,  by  the  Ohio,  KanaAvha,  and  James  Rivers,  through  Virginia  and  West  Virginia, 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  near  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

3.  Besolved,  That  said  line  of  Avater  communication  is  a  Avork  of  great  national  im- 
portance, and  as  such  is  entitled  to  receive  such  aid  from  the  General  Government  as 
will  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  possible  period. 


80 


JAMES  mVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


4.  '*  Resolved,  That  the  executive  council  are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  to  me- 
morialize the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  on  behalf  of 
this  body,  and  ask  them  to  take  the  subject  of  said  Avater  line  communication  into 
favorable  consideration  at  an  early  day,  and  to  grant  such  aid  as  may  be  necessary  to 
secure  its  early  completion." 

While  these  resolutions  were  pending,  at  quite  a  late  period  of  your  session,  when 
but  a  short  time  was  left  for  the  transaction  of  business,  the  following  resolutions  were 
submitted  on  behalf  of  the  Louisville  Board  of  Trade,  and  were  adopted  : 

"  The  subject  of  the  resolutions  submitted  by  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Louisville,  and 
now  under  consideration,  is  one  of  great  importance,  and  has  been  but  recently  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  majority  of  this  body,  and  should  be  fully  examined  and  ma- 
turely considered  before  final  action  :  Therefore, 

"  Besolved,  That  the  whole  subject  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  fifteen,  with  in- 
structions to  fully  examine  the  same,  and  report  to  the  board  at  its  next  meeting. 

"  Besolved,  That  the  report  of  this  committee  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  secretary 
forty  days  previous  to  the  next  annual  meeting,  that  he  may  transmit  copies  of  the  same 
to  the  constituent  bodies." 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolution  the  following  committee  was  appointed  on  this  sub- 
ject : 

Messrs.  Porter,  of  Louisville ;  Stanard,  of  St.  Louis  ;  Burvvell,  of  New  Orleans  ; 
Topp,  of  Memphis  ;  Brown,  of  Portland  ;  Converse,  of  Boston  ;  Hincken,  of  !N"ewYork; 
Monroe,  of  Dubuque;  Munn,  of  Chicago;  Taylor,  of  St.  Paul;  Gano,  of  Cincinnati ; 
Wetherill,  of  Philadelphia ;  Parr,  of  Baltimore  ;  Hughes,  of  Norfolk  ;  Carrington,  of 
Richmond.  ' 

Before  leaving  Cincinnati  your  committee  held  a  meeting,  and  after  taking  measures 
for  draughting  a  report  on  the  subject  submitted  for  their  consideration,  adjourned  to 
meet  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs  on  the  15th  of  August  following.  Pursuant  to  such 
adjournment  your  committee  met  at  the  time  and  place  aforesaid,  and  having  duly  ex- 
amined the  subject  of  your  resolutions,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report  : 

THE  FIRST  RESOLUTION. 

1.  Nothing  could  be  more  true  than  the  declaration  of  the  first  of  the  series  of  reso- 
lutions which  your  honorable  body  has  submitted  for  our  consideration — ^"  that  cheap 
transportation  for  its  heavy  products  to  the  markets  of  the  world  is  not  only  a  necessity 
to  the  West,  but  equally  demanded  by  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country." 

Transportation  to  market  the  great  need  of  the  West. 

The  problem  now  most  seriously  engrossing  the  attention  of  commercial  men  at  the 
North,  at  the  East,  and  throughout  the  West,  is  that  of  cheaper  intercommunication 
between  the  great  interior  region  of  our  continent  and  the  seaboard.  The  necessity  for 
its  solution  is  becoming  more  and  more  urgent  every  day.  The  railroads  "are  overbur- 
dened with  freight,  and  are  inadequate  to  its  transportation,  at  rates  which  draw  it  forth 
from  remote  parts  of  the  interior. 

The  question  of  cheaper  transportation  is  only  another  form  of  the  question  of  ade- 
quate means  of  transportation  ;  for  the  moment  that  freight  prices  are  so  reduced  as 
to  permit  produce  to  go  to  market,  from  where  it  is  grown  in  the  fertile  West,  at  a 
profit  to  the  producer,  immediately  such  a  volume  of  it  is  mobilized  as  to  overtax  the 
capacity  of  the  avenues  of  transportation.  The  problem  of  cheap  carriage  is  therefore 
no  other  than  that  of  adequate  means  of  transportation. 

The  productions  of  the  interior  are  magnifying  every  year.  They  grow  in  aggregate 
more  rapidly  than  the  means  of  transmitting  them  to  market  can  be  multiplied.  West- 
ern production  is  constantly  pressing  unduly  upon  the  means  of  transportation.  The 
multiplication  of  railroads  in  the  interior  is  more  rapid  than  that  of  railroads  connect- 
ing the  interior  with  the  seaboard.  The  efiect  of  the  extended  railroad  and  naviga- 
tion systems  of  the  West  is  to  stimulate  production  more  rapidly  than  existing  lines 
of  transportation  can  be  augmented  in  capacity.  Insufficiency  in  the  means  of  outlet 
produces  high  freight  charges,  and  the  remark  of  all  eminent  writers  on  political 
economy  is  true,  that  impassable  mountain  chains  interpose  no  greater  barriers  to  trade 
than  high  prices  of  freights. 

Extent  of  this  inland  transportation  system  of  the  West. 

The  stimulating  causes  now  in  operation  to  augment  the  production  of  the  West  are 
very  powerful  in  their  influence  : 

l\  The  natural  increase  of  population,  augmented  by  the  immense  immigration  from 
foreign  countries  and  from  the  Atlantic  States,  is  peopling  the  interior  regions  of  the 
continent  with  a  rapidity  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  human  lace ;  and  the  pro- 
duction of  the  country  is  increasing  in  the  same  unprecedented  ratio. 


JAMES  EmR  AND  KANAWSA  CAi^AL*  81 

2.  The  railroad  system  of  the  Mississippi  and  Lake  Valleys  has  grown  to  an  aggre- 
gate of  17,622  miles  in  length.  This  system  is  acting  as  a  powerful  stimulant  to  the 
production  of  that  prolific  region  in  every  part  of  it. 

3.  The  inland  navigation  of  the  West  is  of  immense  expansion.  Official  reports  give 
the  aggregate  length  of  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  at 
16,674  miles.  The  flat-boat  and  bateaux  navigation  of  the  head-waters  and  branches 
of  these  great  streams  increases  this  navigation  by  more  than  ten  thousand  miles  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  a  short  time  slack-water  and  canal  improvements  will  swell  the  grand 
total  of  western  inland  navigation  to  at  least  50,000  miles.  It  will  ultimately  be  con- 
siderably more  if  the  European  principle  should  obtain  in  this  country,  that  every  stream 
19  feet  wide  and  18  inches  deep  may  be  rendered  navigable. 

River  navigation  has  assumed  new  importance  of  late  by  the  inauguration  of  a  cheap- 
er and  more  efficient  system  of  water  transportation.  On  the  western  rivers  they  have 
instituted  the  system  of  steam-tugs  and  barges  on  a  large  scale.  The  effect  is  "sirtually 
to  convert  the  river  channels  into  railroads,  the  steam-tugs  being  locomotives  and  the 
barges  being  freight  cars.  Incorporated  companies  of  large  capital  own  the  tugs  and 
barges,  and  ru|^  them  upon  time  schedules,  just  as  railroad  companies  run  their  trains — 
the  trains  picking  up  barges  as  they  pass  different  wharves  and  leaving  others.  The 
expense  is  but  a  fraction  of  railroad  transportation,  and  the  river  channels  are  prized 
as  nature's  substitute  for  long  railroad  tracks.  As  there  are  nearly  17,000  miles  of 
steamboat  navigation  on  the  western  rivers,  the  effect  is  ^1rtually  to  add  17,000  miles  of 
railroad  track  to  the  transportation  business  of  the  West. 

Thus  the  total  length  of  our  main  lines  of  transportation  in  the  "West,  on  which  steam 
is  the  motor,  has  reached  34,000  miles. 

The  area  of  country  embracing  this  vast  system  of  railways  and  of  navigation  is 
nearly  two  millions  of  square  miles;  and,  when  population  reaches  an  average  of  fifty 
persons  to  the  square  mile,  will  contain  one  hundred  millions  of  people  whose  leading 
industry  will  be  agriculture. 

The  stimulus  imparted  to  production  by  the  railway  and  navigation  systems  which 
have  been  mentioned,  seconded  by  the  unexampled  growth  of  population  there  going 
on,  is  producing  an  immense  development  of  export  products.  In  1860  there  were 
eighteen  millions  of  tons  of  produce  to  spare  from  the  West,  not  one-half  of  which 
went  off.  It  failed  to  go  off  either  from  the  non-existence  of  sufficient  means  of  trans- 
portation, or  by  reason  of  the  prohibitory  cost  of  freightage  over  great  distances.  What 
the  amount  of  produce  now  is  which  could  be  spared  for  outside  markets  from  the  in 
terior,  cannot  be  stated  with  authentic  accuracy,  and  the  statistics  of  the  forthcoming 
census  must  be  awaited.  But  it  w^ould  be  an  under-statement  to  say  that  it  has  reached 
twenty-five  millions  of  tons.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  esti- 
mate that  twelve  and  a  half  millions  of  these  tons  now  go  out  to  market  over  all  the 
existing  avenues  of  transit. 

The  existing  deficiency  in  the  facilities  of  transportation  increases  as  the  center  of 
production  recedes  westward.  A  few  years  ago  this  center  was  in  Ohio.  It  has  steadily 
retrograded  through  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois. '  It  has  now  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  is  still  moving  westward.  The  center  of  demand  at  the  West  for  the  neces- 
sary supplies  from  the  East,  including  machinery,  other  manufactures,  and  merchan- 
dise, salt,  iron,  and  coal,  is  receding  with  equal  step  into  the  far  interior,  to  a  still 
greater  distance  from  the  source  of  supply ;  so  that,  while  the  demand  for  intercom- 
munication is  constantly  increasing,  the  continually  widening  distance  between  the 
places  of  production  and  consumption  is  adding  to  the  expense  of  communication. 

Already  very  many  of  the  products  of  the  West,  wanted  at  the  East,  will  not  bear  , 
transportation.  Even  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  corn,  the  staff  of  life — needed  at  the 
East  to  fill  hungry  mouths — has  been  burned  for  fuel,  on  the  score  of  economy ;  and  in 
Dubuque,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  within  the  last  five  years,  corn  in  the 
cob  has  been  burned  for  domestic  purposes  as  cheaper  than  other  fuel,  the  ruling  price 
of  wood  being  810  per  cord,  and  of  anthracite  coal  820  per  ton. 

The  area  of  country  in  the  West  which  can  be  served  by  the  Erie  Canal  is  continually 
decreasing ;  for,  as  the  country  bordering  on  the  lakes  becomes  settled  up.  the 
breadth  of  land  under  cultivation  increases,  and  the  produce  from  this  increased  cul- 
tivation, being  nearer  to  the  lakes,  cuts  off  that  from  the  far  West  by  monopolizing  the 
canal. 

To  show  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  means  of  outlet  for  transmitting  such  a  vol- 
ume of  produce  as  would  be  spared  for  market,  we  may  estimate  the  maximum  thee* 
retic  capacity  of  the  Erie  Canal  for  through  produce  at  seven  millions  of  tons ;  we 
may  estimate  the  utmost  capacity  of  all  the  raih'oads  now  leading  across  the  Allegha- 
nies  at  eight  millions  of  tons,  for  through  freights.  It  would  be  safe  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  western  produce  which  now  goes  out  by  the  channels  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Lower  Mississippi  at  four  millions  of  tons.  (The  capacity  of  the  lower  outlets 
of  the  Mississippi  and  of  tlie  St.  Lawrence  for  discharging  produce,  is,  of  course,  not 
measured  by  the  quantity  actually  going  out,  but  rather  by  the  capacity  of  existing 
appliances  for  its  shipment.)    Thus  the  utmost  theoretic  capacity  of  these  several 


83 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


avenues  of  outlet  does  not  exceed  19,000,000  of  tons.  The  quantity  of  western  through 
tonnage  actually  moving  over  them  is  but  little  more  than  half  this  aniount.  Yet  the 
present  tonnage  which  could  be  spared  by  the  "West  and  which  could  be  forwarded  to 
market,  if  its  products  v/ere  mobilized  by  cheap  carriage,  and  by  ample  avenues  of 
transportation,  would  be  twenty-five  millions  of  tons.  (See  article  I,  Hunt's  Magazine 
for  August,  1868.)  It  is  not,  therefore,  merely  a  question  whether  we  shall  add  new 
railroads  to  those  already  engaged  in  the  work,  or  whether  we  shall  merely  open  new 
canals,  or  whether  we  shall  merely  increase  the  appliances  necessary  for  transmitting 
produce  through  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  the  Gulf.  Kesort  must  be  had  to  all  these 
expedients,  and  still  there  will  be  a  grievous  deficiency  in  the  means  of  conducting  the 
vast  transportation. 

Western  production  seeks  market  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic. 

Whether  this  huge  volume  of  produce  is  to  find  outlet  to  the  markets  of  the  world 
in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic  or  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  does  not  admit  of  doubt.  The 
history  of  trade  from  the  earliest  records  of  time,  furnishes  no  instance  ftf  a  considera- 
ble movement  of  produce  designed  for  human  or  animal  food  toward  countries  and  pop- 
ulations adjacent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  Atlantic  is  a  long,  narrow  ocean,  easily  navigated  on  short  voyages.  The  coun- 
tries on  either  side  of  it  are  inhabited  by  tii(^  powerful  Christian  nations  of  the  earth  ; 
nearly  all  of  them  commercial,  and  most  of  them' importers  of  grain.  It  is  opened  up 
to  Northern  Africa  and  to  Southern  Europe  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  to  Northern 
and  Central  Europe  by  the  Baltic.  It  is  opened  to  all  America  except  the  narrow  strip 
west  of  the  Andes,  the  Cordilleras,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  our  gulfs  and  seas, 
our  bays  and  lakes,  and  by  our  great  rivers,  of  which  the  Mississippi  and  the  Amazon 
are  scarcely  more  important  than  a  dozen  others.  Nearly  all  the  great  navigable  rivers 
of  the  world  flow  into  the  Atlantic  and  its  tributaries. 

Our  western  grain  must  find  its  consumers  in  the  populations  near  the  Atlantic,  and 
its  markets  almost  exclusively  in  Atlantic  ports.  (Great  Britain  alone  imports  annually 
four  millions  of  tons  of  grain.)  It  must  all  seek  exit  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic, 
its  natural  tendency  being  to  pursue  the  short  direct  route  due  eastward,  from  the  lo- 
calities of  production  to  the  seaboard.  There  is  no  reason  for  believing  that  this  ten- 
dency will  ever  be  reversed  or  changed. 

The  East  and  West  alike  interested  in  the  question  of  cheap  transportation. 

The  problem  of  providing  cheap  transit  to  the  seaboard  for  the  whole  production  of 
the  West  which  can  be  spared  for  market,  is  not  of  first  importance  to  producers  alone. 
The  entire  manufacturing  and  commercial  populations  of  the  Eastern  States  are  inter- 
ested in  obtaining  food.  Unless  food  shnli  be  furnished  at  the  lowest  prices,  manufactur  • 
ers  must  gradually  decay  throughout  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  and  either  perish 
after  a  lirgering  existence,  or  migrate  to  other  sections  in  search  of  cheap  subsistence. 
The  interest  of  the  West  in  cheap  transportation  is  no  more  vital  than  is  that  of  the 
East  in  cheap  food.  Both  are  dependent  upon  the  timely  and  liberal  provision  of  ade- 
q4iate  channels  of  transportation.  Cheap  food  is  the  best  '■'■protection'^  which  can  be 
provided  our  manufacturers  against  foreign  competition.  It  is  in  its  relation  to  this 
subject  that  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  seaboard  but  reflects  the  prosperity  of 
the  West.  Western  products  furnish  the  basis  of  commercial  wealth,  and  cheap  food 
«  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  every  manufacturing  community.  Thus  every  great 
work  which  may  be  projected  for  cheapening  and  increasing  transportation  between 
the  West  and  East  is  national  in  character,  and  merits  the  encouragement  of  the  Na- 
tional Government. 

THE  SECOND  RESOLUTION. 

A  central  water  line  now  an  exigent  necessity  of  the  West. 

II.  The  object  being  to  provide  means  for  transmitting  the  maximum  quantity  of 
produce  at  a  minimum  cost,  your  committee  have  no  hesitation  in  recommending  the 
opening  of  a  canal  and  slack-water  line  of  continuous  navigation  across  the  territory  of 
Virginia,  from  the  Ohio  to  tide-water  on  the  James  River,  as  suggested  by  the  second 
resolution  submitted  by  your  honorable  body  for  our  consideration.  Since  the  intro- 
duction of  the  steam-tug  and  barge  system  of  transportation  on  the  western  waters, 
since  the  practice  has  become  general  of  transporting  grain  in  bulk,  and  since  the 
application  of  stationary  and  movable  steam  elevators  for  transferring  grain  from 
one  vessel  to  another,  inland  water  transportation — which  at  one  time  seemed  likely 
to  be  wholly  superseded  by  that  of  railway — has  assumed  new  importance  in  the  West, 
and  has  been  made  much  cheaper  than  it  is  possible  for  railroad  transportation  to  be 
repde^ed  over  long  distances. 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


88 


These  improvements  in  the  method  of  conducting  the  business  of  transportation  on 
western  waters  have  given  the  canals  a  revived  importance  and  awakened  a  widely  per- 
vading interest  in  the  proposition  to  open  a  continuous  line  of  direct  navigation  from 
the  Mississippi  River  to  Hampton  Roads  through  the  territory  of  Virginia. 

Your  committee  are  more  strongly  inclined  to  look  with  favor  upon  this  enterprise 
on  account  of  the  superior  capacity  of  canals  for  carrying  quantities  of  freight.  To 
illustrate  this  truth  we  need  but  consider  some  of  the  special  facts  of  transportation. 

The  boats  used  on  the  Erie  Canal  carry  210  tons;  that  is  to  say,  as  many  tons  as  a 
railroad  train  can  carry  of  twenty-six  freight  cars,  each  bearing  eight  tons.  The  small 
capital  invested  in  the  canal-boat,  the  small  number  of  men  employed  to  man  it,  and 
the  small  cost  of  motive  power  used  in  drawing  it,  are  all  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
capital  necessary  to  be  invested  in  the  locomotives  and  freight  cars,  in  the  purchase  of 
fuel,  and  in  the  hire  of  men  attending  the  freight  trains.  The  ratio  of  capital  required 
in  the  one  case  and  the  other  is  as  twenty  to  one.  The  canal,  moreover,  is  a  public 
highwa}",  open  to  all.  The  railroad  is  necessarily  operated  by  a  corporation  having 
a  large  capital  and  all  the  attributes  of  a  monopoly.  In  general  the  outlay  of  capital  is 
ten  times  as  gra^t  in  the  case  of  railroads  as  in  the  case  of  v/ater  transportation.  When, 
therefore,  we  design  to  construct  an  additional  outlet  for  the  trade  of  the  West,  truly 
national  in  its  character,  in  being  open  and  accessible  to  the  use  of  the  humble  as  well 
as  the  great,  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  we  must  provide  a  water  channel  rather 
than  a  railroad.  In  a  lecture  delivered  in  Ferubary  last,  before  the  Aruerican  Insti- 
tute, by  Professor  William  J.  McAlpine,  the  following  striking  comparison  is  made  of 
the  capacity  of  canals  for  transportation  with  that  of  railroads,  and  of  the  actual  trans- 
portation of  the  Erie  Canal  with  that  of  all  the  trunk  railroads  in  the  United  States  : 

"  The  great  canals  executed  in  our  day  form  an  important  feature  in  this  progress. 
With  many  persons  there  is  an  idea  that  the  railway  has  superseded  the  canal,  and 
that  the  former  now  performs  the  chief  part  of  the  traffic  of  the  country.  While  the 
latter  is  true  in  regard  to  interior  short  lines  of  trade,  it  is  a  serious  error  in  reference 
to  the  great  transport  between  the  agricultural  West  and  the  Atlantic.  The  Erie 
Canal,  during  the  season  of  navigation,  conveys  more  of  this  traffic  than  all  of  the 
railroads  together ;  more  than  all  the  trunk  lines  from  the  St  Lawrence  to  the  Poto- 
mac. The  boats  which  come  to  tide-water  have  an  average  cargo  exceeding  that  car- 
ried by  the  longest  freight  train  on  the  Central  Railway.  During  the  busy  season  more 
than  150  such  boats  arrive  daily,  and  their  tonnage  would  require  more  than  150 
freight  trains.  The  greatest  number  is  but  thirty  per  day  on  the  Centval  Raihvay. 
The  Erie  Canal,  therefore?,  is  perfornnng  more  than  five  times  as  much  business  as  the 
Central  Railway.  Yet  the  slow,  plodding  canal-boat  attracts  no  attention,  thoogh  bur- 
dened with  more  tons  than  the  bustling,  noisy,  whirling  freight  train,  which  creates  a 
sensation  in  every  village  through  which  it  passes.  The  4,000  canal-boats  of  an  aggre- 
gate of  1,000,000  tonnage,  moving  5,000,000  tons  of  cargo  per  annum,  exceed  the 
tonnage  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  commerce  of  this  city  [JSTewYork] 
even  before  the  war." 

Canals  are  used  hy  the  public — railroads  only  by  their  owners. 

Here  is  also  exhibited  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  canals  afford  more  unlimited 
capacity  for  the  transportation  of  freights  than  railroads.  Whoever  may  be  able  to 
command  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  capital  may  engage  in  the  business  of  a  common 
carrier  on  the  canal ;  whereas  that  business  on  railroads  is  virtually  confined  to  the 
single  corporations  owning  them.  If  we  are  to  have  additional  highways  for  the  cheap 
transportation  of  heavy  produce  in  great  quantities,  we  must  open  at  least  another 
canal,  Avhich  should  be  at  the  service  of  all  common  carriers,  great  and  small. 

The  Erie  Canal,  in  its  present  dimensions,  is  .adapted  to  boats  carrying  210  tons.  Its 
capacity  is  now  theoretically  equal  to  the  discharge  of  7,000,000  of  tons  of  produce  per 
annum,  way  and  through ;  it  actually  discharges  less.  It  practically  passes  as  much 
tonnage  during  the  year  as  three  of  the  most  efficient  and  best  appointed  railroad  lines 
in  the  world.  During  the  seven  months  when  it  is  open,  it  discharges  as  much  tonnage 
as  five  such  railroads.  It  carries  bulky  articles  of  commerce  which  the  railroads 
cannot  move  with  profit,  and  it  carries  all  produce  cheaper  than  the  railroads.  The 
Hon.  Israel  T.  Hatch,  of  Buffalo,  a  liigh  authority  on  these  subjects,  said  recently,  in  an 
address  to  a  meeting  of  leading  merchants  in  the  city  of  New  York  : 

"  The  average  cost  per  ton  from  Chicago  to  New  York  via  the  lakes,  the  Erie  Canal, 
and  the  Hudson  River,  including  canal  tolls  and  carriers'  profits,  embracing  a  period  of 
ten  years,  is  $7  66^.  The  cost  of  transportation  on  the  Central  Railway,  as  given  in 
annual  reports,  taking  the  average  of  six  years,  is  one  cent  four  mills  and  nine-tenths 
of  a  mill  per  mile,  not  including  carriers'  profits.  This  average,  applied  to  the  distance 
from  Chicago  to  New  York  by  rail,  988  miles,  makes  $14  31  per  ton,  or  $6  65  more  per 
ton  than  the  average  cost  for  a  period  of  ten  years  via  the  lakes,  the  Erie  Canal,  and 
the  Hudson  River,  including  the  State  tolls  and  profits  of  carriers.  The  through  freight 
moved  eastward  by  the  five  trunk  lines  and  the  Erie  Canal  is  about,  in  round  num- 
bers, 5,500,000  tons,  which,  if  multiplied  by  §6  65,  the  difference  before  mentioned, 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


would  make  a  difference  between  rail  and  water  transportation  of  all  carried  by  either 
method  of  §36,580,500,  and,  with  the  profits  of  the  railway  companies,  added  to  the 
actual  cost,  would  augment  this  amount  largely." 

The  classes  of  freight  chiefly  carried  by  the  canals  are  the  heavier  products  of  agri- 
culture, and  those  of  the  forest  and  the  mine.  The  New  York  canals  carried,  in  1867 
of  the  products  of  the  forest,  1,232,968  tons,  valued  at  $11,167,969,  while  the  amount  of 
this  class  of  products  carried  by  all  the  railroads  of  the  State  in  the  same  year  was  only 
303,236  tons,  having  a  value  of  only  $2,204,526.  In  respect,  however,  to  articles  of 
higher  value  the  case  was  reversed,  the  railroads  of  the  State  having  carried  1,290,815 
tons  of  "animal  food,"  valued  at  $440,916,588,  while  the  canals  carried  only  16,614  tons, 
valued  at  $5,675,202.  Thus  railroads  and  canals  supplement  each  other,  the  canals 
relieving  the  railroads  of  cumbrous  products  paying  low  freights,  while  the  railroads 
carry  those  articles  which  could  not  await  the  slow  transit  of  the  canals,  and  which 
afford  high  charges  of  freight. 

Railroads  do  not  afford  cheap  transportation  for  great ^Listances.  The  canal,  the  river, 
the  lake,  are  the  channels  for  the  products  of  the  farm,  forest,  and  mine ;  the  railroad 
is  for  merchants  and  m^anufacturers.  • 

It  may  be  conceded  that  canals  do  not  stimulate  the  production  of  the  countries 
which  they  penetrate  as  actively  as  raih;oads.  But  when  once  a  network  of  railways 
is  constructed,  and  has  produced  that  vast  augmentation  of  production  which  in  fer- 
tile regions  invariably  results,  then  cauiiLs  become  indispensable  aids  to  railroads  in 
taking  off  to  distant  markets  the  increased  and  increasing  production.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  solve  th(i  problem  of  cheap  transportation  and  adequate  means  of  outlet  for 
western  produce,  we  cannot  confine  ourselves  to  any  one  species  of  improvement.  We 
must  have  a  sufficiency  of  all  improvements,  and  more  especially  of  canals,  as  they 
have  greater  capacity  for  the  transportation  of  quantities  of  freight  than  railroads,  and 
can  carry  heavy  produce  cheaper  over  great  distances. 


Canals  are  not  obsolete. 


That  canals  have  not  become  obsolete  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  France  there  are 
in  profitable  operation  7,700  miles  of  canal  and  slack-water  navigation,  and  that  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  there  are  over  4,000  miles  of  similar  works  in  use,  as  follows  : 


Miles. 

Canals  in  England   2,600 

Canals  in  Scotland   226 

Canals  in  Ireland   275 

Navigations  c  -   900 

Total   4,000 


In  France,  where  the  system  has  greater  extension  than  in  any  other  country,  the 
Emperor,  not  content  with  mastering  the  Suez  Canal,  has  projected  a  great  ship  channel 
from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  Mediterranean,  the  cost  of  which  is  estimated  at  between 
seventeen  and  eighteen  millions  of  pounds,  and  the  time  necessary  for  its  completion 
six  years. 

The  argument  against  the  utility  of  canals,  and  the  trite  assertion  that  they  have 
become  obsolete,  were  based  principally  on  the  fact  that  in  the  United  States  some 
canals  have  been  unsuccessful,  and  some  have  been  virtually  abandoned. 

The  great  success  of  canals  in  Great  Britain  created  a  furore  for  their  construction 
in  this  country,  and  many  were  made  that  proved  to  be  failures,  principally  because 
the  zeal  that  projected  and  commenced  them  died  out  before  their  completion,  and  the 
prosecution  of  the  works  was  abandoned  before  they  had  arrived  half  way  to  their 
destination. 

Another  cause  of  their  want  of  success  was,  that  many  of  them  were  made  of  such 
small  dimensions  that  they  could  not  be  profitably  navigated,  and  soon  filled  up,  so 
that  they  could  not  be  navigated  at  all.  But  these  failures  prove  nothing,  and  are 
only  warnings  against  the  folly  of  wasting  money  on  works  that  never  can  or  never 
will  be  completed,  and  against  projecting  great  water  communications  upon  such  mean 
and  insufficient  plans  that  their  very  littleness  will  insure  their  failure. 

The  partial  obscuration  of  canals  by  the  dazzling  success  of  railroads  has  been  only 
temporary,  and  so  far  from  public  opinion  being  against  canals,  it  is  now  setting 
strongly  in  their  favor,  and  their  utility  and  superiority  over  railroads  for  the  cheap 
transportation  of  heavy  tonnage  is  a  growing  opinion,  and  the  necessity  of  their  con- 
struction, not  as  rivals  but  as  reliefs  to  railroads,  is  more  and  more  generally  conceded. 
This  is  manifested  by  the  earnest  demand  at  the  JSTorth  for  the  further  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  canal  to  the  capacity  of  vessels  of  500  tons ;  by  the  projection  of  new  lines 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


85 


of  water  communication  and  tlie  enlargement  of  old  ones,  in  Canada,  where  $200,000,000 
are  proposed  to  be  expended  upon  such  works  ;  by  the  proposed  ship  canal  around  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  ;  the  enlargement  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  to  ship  dimensions ; 
the  proposed  ship  canal  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Lake  Erie  ;  another  across  the  Isthmus 
of  Florida,  to  shorten  the  voyage  and  avoid  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  Florida 
Pass ;  and  lastly,  the  magnificent  scheme  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans 
by  means  of  a  ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  No  less  than  nineteen  dif- 
ferent routes  have  been  proposed  for  a  ship  canal  across  the  American  Isthmus,  and 
various  surveys  have  been  made  by  governments  and  private  individuals,  and  the  inter- 
est in  this  interoceanic  connection  is  unabated.  Mr.  F.  TV.  Kelly,  of  New  York,  has 
estimated  the  saving  in  money  to  the  trade  of  the  United  States  that  would  result  from 
the  use  of  the  Isthmus  Canal  at  §36,000,000  ;  and  the  saving  to  the  trade  of  the  world  at 
about  $50,000,000  annually  ;  while  the  cost  of  the  canal  has  been  estimated  as  high  as 
1325,000,000. 

In  comparison  with  this  gigantic  scheme,  the  Virginia  water  line  only  dwindles  into 
insignificance  so  far  as  the  cost  is  concerned  ;  but  when  we  com'e  to  consider  the  benefit 
to  be  derived  from  it  in  the  saving  of  money  to  the  trade  of  the  United  States,  it  will  be 
seen  that  at  one-eighth  the  expenditure  in  money  the  saving  will  be  as  great. 

The  interest  in  canals  is  not  confined  to  the  United  States.  One  of  the  leading  topics 
of  the  world  at  this  time  is  the  successful  completion  of  the  great  Suez  Canal,  at  a  cost 
of  $80,000,000.  The  French  Emperor's  plan  of  connecting  the  Bay  of  Biscay  with  the 
Mediterranean,  in  order  to  save  the  circuit  of  the  passage  of  Gibraltar,  excites  great  in- 
terest and  commands  favor.  The  canalling  of  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  is  also  projected, 
as  Avell  as  the  important  project  of  connecting  the  Baltic  and  North  Seas  by  a  canal 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Denmark. 

What  greater  evidence  could  there  be  of  the  public  estimation  of  the  value  of  canals 
than  the  projection  of  the  above-mentioned  schemes,  especially  those  in  New  York  and 
Canada,  where  the  period  of  navigation  is  limited  to  seven  months  in  the  year  ?  What 
railroad  could  live  and  prosper  if  its  operations  had  to  be  suspended  for  five  months 
every  year  ? 

The  principal  concern  that  needs  be  felt  for  the  success  of  the  Virginia  water  line  is, 
that  the  full  benefit  to  be  derived  from  its  unrivalled  position  and  advantages  may  not 
be  attained  from  parsimony  or  an  unwise  economy  in  the  scale  of  its  construction.  If 
made  at  all,  let  it  be  made  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  demands  of  the  trade  of 
the  great  West,  and  fully  up  to  the  greatest  capacity  that  can  be  obtained  at  the  sum- 
mit level.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  engineer  of  the  company  that  a  capacity  double  that 
already  assumed  in  his  plan  of  the  canal,  or  say  for  boats  of  500  tons,  could  be  obtained 
by  the  construction  of  reservoirs  on  the  Greenbrier  and  its  tributaries. 

The  existence  of  natural  channels  has  never  been  held  an  argument  against  the  construc- 

tio7i  of  artificial  ones. 

In  the  United  States  there  would  be  a  blockade  of  western  trade  if  the  Erie  Canal 
were  closed  for  a  year.  It  is  idle  to  urge  in  opposition  to  the  project  of  cutting  a  canal 
straight  across  the  country  from  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  to  those  of  the  Chesapeake,  that 
the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Gulf  are  competent  to  bear  away  all  the  produce  which  the 
West  can  grow,  and  which  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  great  railroad  lines  across  the  Alle- 
ghany summits  cannot  move.  If  they  are  competent  to  the  task  they  do  not  actually 
perform  it,  simply  because  the  river  and  Gulf  route  is  too  circuitous  to  be  pursued  by  the 
produce  of  a  very  extensive  region  of  the  country  contributing  its  trade,  and  the  north- 
ern water  route  is  closed  by  ice  for  five-twelfths  of  each  year. 

If,  in  16G5,  an  engineer  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  sitting  on  the  ramparts  of  Gibraltar, 
had  ridiculed  the  attempt  of  Louis  the  Great  to  transmit  trade  from  Toulouse  to  Mar- 
seilles without  having  to  pass  under  the  guns  of  that  fortress,  and  had  asked,  "What 
need  of  a  canal  across  France  while  these  straits  remain  here,  capacious  enough  to  pass 
the  commerce  of  all  the  world  at  once  ?"  he  would  have  spoken  in  the  spirit  of  those 
who  now  object  to  the  Virginia  work.  But  the  canal  du  Midi,  with  its  great  reservoir 
of  St.  Ferrol,  was  built,  and  it  still  exists,  one  of  the  most  valuable  works  of  France, 
and  one  of  the  proudest  monuments  of  the  genius  of  Louis  XIV,  and  the  advanced 
enterprise  of  the  seventeenth  century.  One  hundred  years  afterward,  ignorant  of 
what  had  actually  been  done  for  a  whole  century  in 'France,  a  very  "practical" 
public  in  England  ridiculed  the  project  of  the  Duke  of  Bridge  water  to  make  an  arti- 
ficial navigation  from  Liverpool  to  some  coal  mines  only  forty  miles  distant  through  a 
flat  country.  But  the  Duke's  name  now  stands  among  the  most  renowned  and  most  re- 
vered in  England,  and  the  practical  British  public  has  since  attested  its  appreciation  of 
the  works  he  inaugurated  by  constructing  three  thousand  miles  of  canals  which  are  in 
daily  use.  And  yet,  one  hundred  years  since  the  triumph  of  the  Duke  of  Bridge  water 
over  all  ridicule  and  all  protestation,  and  two  centuries  since  Louis  XIV  proved  that  the 
straits  of  Gibraltar  were  not  sufficient  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  French  navigation, 
the  idea  is  still  maintained  by  a  few  that  the  Mississippi  afi'ords  the  only  needful  outlet 


86 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


for  western  trade.  But  distance  has  something  to  do  with  the  operations  of  commerce, 
and  a  very  large  portion  of  the  western  produce,  rather  than  travel  three  thousand 
miles  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York,  by  way  of  the  Balize,  the  Gulf,  and  the  long  south- 
ern coast — going  out  of  the  country  in  order  to  get  through  it — would  prefer  a  short 
trip  of  only  fifteen  hundred  miles  inland  to  Norfolk,  even  if  in  the  passage  through  the 
Virginia  Canal  it  would  have  to  scale  seventeen  hundred  feet  of  elevation,  or  about  half 
as  many  feet  in  lift  of  locks  as  it  would  go  extra  miles  in  tedious  circuit  by  way  of  the 
Balize,  Cuba,  and  the  Bahamas, 

The  cheapest  transit  for  long  distances  is  furnished  alone  by  water,  and  yet,  in  order 
to  get  to  the  seaboard  at  present  by  -water,  the  western  produce  must  needs  go  either  by 
the  lakes  or  by  the  Gulf — must  go  beyond  the  boundary  of  the  Union  for  want  of  a  direct 
navigation  across  the  territory  of  the  Union.  This  is  a  national  shame,  a  national  incon- 
convenience,  a  national  loss.  Another  canal  is  needed  for  the  millions  of  tons  of  western 
produce  which  is  now  not  carried  to  market  at  all,  simply  because  the  rates  of  charge  for 
transit  are  not  cheap  enough  to  draw  it  out  from  the  far  interior.  General  Washington 
suggested  the  true  remedy  for  this  now  great  and  growing  evil.  The  remedy  was  a 
line  of  unbroken  navigation  across  the  territory  of  Virginia. 

Causes  which  have  impeded  the  opening  of  this  line. 

The  fact  that  this  route  of  navigation  has  not  been  opened  long  ago,  especially  in 
view  of  the  successful  experience  of  New  York  with  the  Erie  Canal,  furnishes  no  argu- 
ment against  the  present  expediency  of  the  enterprise.  The  delay  has  been  due  both 
.to  physical  and  financial  causes.  It  is  a  fact  that  Virginia  formed  the  determination  to 
construct  a  canal  across  the  mountains  in  her  territory  at  about  the  same  time  that 
New  York  began  to  make  a  canal  across  the  level  plateau  of  country  which  stretches 
out  between  the  Hudson  and  Niagara  Rivers.  The  task  of  New  York  w^as  as  easy  as 
that  of  Virginia  was  difficult.  The  surface  of  Lake  Erie  is  only  564  feet  above  tide- 
water, and,  except  the  elevation  forming  its  eastern  shore,  is  higher  by  143  feet  than 
any  of  the  ground  between  the  lake  and  the  Hudson  River.  Between  the  Seneca  and 
Mohawk  Rivers  a  platea-u  of  country  extends  for  sixty  miles,  along  which  not  a  single 
lock  was  required  in  constructing  the  canal.  Nothing  was  needed  to  be  done,  in  fact, 
but  to  cut  through  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  and  lead  the  outflowing  waters  down 
along  a  gradually  descending  country  to  the  sources  of  the  Mohawk,  and  with  the 
course  of  that  stream  to  the  Hudson.  So  favorable  was  the  topograph}^  of  the  route 
that  the  cost  of  making  this  channel,  363  miles  long,  was  estimated  at  only  $5,000,000, 
and  did  not  actually  exceed  $7,000,000,  on  the  plan  on  which  the  canal  was  first  com- 
pleted. No  sooner  did  the  trade  begin  to  find  an  artificial  outlet  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Hudson,  than  canals  across  the  low  divides  between  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Ohio,  and  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  were  undertaken.  It  required 
lockages  of  only  569  feet  to  reach  the  elevation  of  Lake  Erie  from  the  Hudson ;  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  the  elevation  to  be  surmounted  was  only  950  feet ;  while 
that  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  was  only  610  feet.  New  York 
plainly  saw  that,  by  first  constructing  her  own  canal,  and  then  aiding  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois  in  constructing  other  canals  over  these  easy  summits,  she  would 
obtain  command  of  the  trade  of  a  country  embracing  half  a  million  of  square  miles, 
as  fertile  as  the  Delta  or  the  Nile.  While  New  York  has  only  these  three  incon- 
siderable summits  to  surmount,  in  order  to  reach  beyond  the  lakes  to  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Ohio,  what  were  those  which  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  had  to 
overcome  in  simply  reaching  the  Ohio  ?  Pennsylvania  had  a  range  of  mountain  coun- 
try 70  miles  in  breadth  to  penetrate  with  her  canal,  and  a  summit  of  1,899  feet  to  sur- 
mount with  locks.  Maryland  had  a  series  of  mountain  ranges  a  hundred  miles  broad 
to  traverse,  and  a  summit  level  of  3,754-  feet  to  lift  her  canal  over.  Virginia  had  a 
like  series  of  elevations,  a  hundred  miles  in  breadth,  to  cross,  and  a  summit  of  1,700  feet 
to  overcome. 

Yet,  nothing  daunted  by  barriers  which  would  be  appalling  even  to  the  enterprising 
spirit  of  our  own  times,  these  States  went  boldly  forward  with  their  respective  canals. 
Pennsylvania  spent  $20,000,000  in  making  a  water  line,  broken  by  inclined  planes  and 
pierced  by  portages.  Maryland,  aided  by  Virginia,  spent  $8,000,000  on  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  Canal,  in  carrying  it  no  farther  than  the  foot  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  then, 
dismayed  by  the  difficulties  still  before  her,  gave  up  the  water  line,  and  devoted  her 
resources  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  Virginia  undertook  her  canal  as 
courageously  as  the  rest,  and  after  spending  810,000,000  found  she  had  carried  it  only 
to  the  western  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  works  in  which  these  three  States  had 
been  engaged  were  so  arduous,  expensive,  and  tedious  that  before  they  could  be  com- 
pleted the  growing  preference  for  railroads,  and  the  success  of  those  works,  produced 
a  division  of  popular  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  the  proper  improvements  to  be  con- 
structed, and  caused  a  suspension  of  the  canals.  Owing  to  the  favorable  route  enjoyed 
by  New  York,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Erie  Canal  was  constructed.  New  York 
had  completed  her  great  work  before  the  popular  preference  for  railroads  had  super- 


JAMES  EIYEE  AXD  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


87 


Tened  to  suspend  that  work.  She  pushed  it  through  to  early  completion ;  secured' 
also,  the  construction  of  the  Ohio  and  Illinois  Canals,  and  thus  completed  a  grand 
system  of  inland  navigation,  reaching  more  than  a  thousand  miles  into  the  heart  of  the 
"^est,  before  being  called  on  to  embark  in  railroad  enterprises. 

Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Yirginia  were  forced  to  change  their  system  of  improve- 
ments after  having  crippled  their  finances  on  unfinished  canals,  and  to  engage  in  the 
construction  of  railroads,  without  the  aid  of  the  trade  which  had  been  expected  from 
the  canals. 

Merits  of  the  central  water  line. 

The  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  is  the  grand  converging  point  of  the 
Kansas,  iSTebraska,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  Illinois,  Ohio,  Cumberland  and  Tennessee 
Rivers;  is  the  geographical  center  of  their  trade,  and  the  converging  and  diverging 
point  of  17,000  miles  of  inland  steamboat  navigation  ;  while  Xoriolk,  the  central  and 
most  capacious  harbor  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  is  connected  with  the  center  of  the  vast 
interior  (except  the  little  space  occupied  by  the  "unfinished  section''  of  the  Yirginia 
Canal)  by  an  unbroken  water  line,  which  is  at  once  shorter,  cheaper,  and  more  rehable 
than  any  other,  and  open  to  trade  for  more  than  eleven  months  of  the  year.  It  would 
seem  that  these  two  great  centers  were  made  expressly  for  each  other. 

For  many  years  the  cheapness  of  transportation  on  the  Erie  Canal  gave  a  permanently 
northeastward  tendency  to  the  trade  of  the  whole  TTest,  above  the  parallel  of  St. 
Louis.  But  the  perfection  to  which  railroad  construction  has  been  brought,  and  the 
increasing  cheapness  and  rapidity  of  railroad  transportation,  have  given  to  western  trade 
a  strong  and  growing  tendency  to  cross  the  country  on  lower  latitudes  and  shorter 
routes.  Hence  the  vast  business  that  has  sprung  up  on  the  Pennsylvania  roads,  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  and  on  the  Norfolk  and  Memphis  line  of  road. 

The  growing  preference  of  western  trade  is  for  central  lines  ;  not  only  because  they 
are  more  exempt  from  the  frosts  of  the  norihern  climate,  but  because  they  are  on  the 
shortest  routes  from  the  centers  of  western  production  and  population  to  the  center  of 
the  American  seaboard.  It  is  this  tendency  of  trade,  it  is  this  necessity  of  trade,  that 
has  so  powerfully  turned  public  attention  of  late  to  Norfolk  as  a  great  seaport  city,  and 
given  so  much  credit  to  the  lines  of  improvement  proposed  for  connecting  the  great 
Yirginia  seaport  with  the  leading  cities  in  the  central  West. 

The  great  harbor  of  jSbrfoIk. 

In  respect  to  the  advantages  of  Norfolk  in  its  central  location  upon  the  seaboard,  and 
the  superlative  excellence  of  its  harbor,  the  highest  authority  in  maritime  and  commer- 
cial subjects,  Commodore  31.  F.  3Iaury,  better  known  to  science  as  Lieutenant  Maury, 
is  here  quoted.    That  eminent  author  says  : 

"  Geographically  considered,  the  harbors  of  Norfolk  or  Hampton  Roads  and  New 
York  occupy  the  most  important  and  commanding  positions  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  more  convenient  to  the  ocean  than  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
and  Boston  are,  because  they  are  not  so  far  from  the  sea. 

"Depth  of  water  that  can  be  carried  out,  and  distance  of  the  sea  from 
Hampton  Roads,  distant  15  miles — depth  28  feet. 

New  York,  "       30    "       34  fathoms,  23  " 

Boston,  "     100    "       3|       "      21  " 

Philadelphia.  "  100  "  3|  "  23  " 
Baltimore,    '         "     160    "       2^       "      16  " 

«'  Between  the  three  last  and  the  sea  there  is  a  tedious  bay  navigation,  but  eack  of 
the  first  two  is  situated  upon  a  well-sheltered  harbor  that  opens  right  upon  the  sea  with 
beautiful  offings,  those  of  Hampton  Roads  surpassing  the  others  in  all  the  requirements 
of  navigation,  both  as  to  facility  of  ingress  and  egress,  certainty  of  land  fall,  depth  of 
water,  and  holding  ground. 

"The  Chesapeake  Bay  is  a  'king's  chamber'  in  the  bosom  of  Yirginia,  which  no 
belligerent  may  enter  with  other  than  good  intent.  It  affords  the  finest  .harbors  on  the 
coast ;  and,  moreover,  they  are  those  farthest  to  the  north  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
continent,  that  are  never  obstructed  by  ice. 

"  To  the  south,  all  the  seaport  towns,  as  far  as  the  Reefs  of  Florida,  have  their  har- 
bors obstructed  by  bars,  over  which  the  larger  vessels  of  commerce  can  never  pass  ;  and 
the  extent  of  back  country,  naturally  tributary  to  them,  is,  in  comparison  with  that 
which  is  tributary  to  the  seaport  towns  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  very  small.  It  does  not 
extend  beyond  the  drainage  of  these  rivers. 

"  The  harbors  that  lie  north  of  the  Chesapeake  are  liable  to  obstructions  by  ice  everv 
winter,  and  their  approaches  are  often  endangered  by  the  fogs  which  prevail  in  their 
offings. 

"This  noble  sheet  of  water,  with  its  spacious  harbors,  is  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date shipping  sufficient  to  afl'ord  transportation  for  all  the  products  and  Wrchandise  of 
the  West,  were  they  a  thousand-fold  more  abundant  than  they  are  ;  and  it  is  the  most 


88 


JAMES  KIVER  AND  KANAWflA  CASfAL. 


convenient  point  on  the  entire  coast  for  distributing  them  north  and  south  along  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  or  for  sending  them  to  markets  beyond  the  sea. 

"As  to  the  natural  advantages  of  position,  depth  of  water,  and  accessibility  by  land 
and  sea,  Norfolk  has  no  competitor  among  the  seaport  towns  of  the  Atlantic.  Midway 
the  Atlantic  coast  line  of  the  United  States,  Norfolk  is  the  most  convenient  because  the 
most  central  point  where  the  produce  of  the  interior  may  be  collected ;  and  whence  it 
may  be  distributed,  north  and  south,  right  and  left,  among  the  markets  of  the  seaboard. 
Its  climate  is  delightful ;  it  is  exactly  of  that  happy  middle  temperature  where  the 
frosts  of  the  North  bite  not,  and  where  the  pestilence  of  the  South  walketh  not.  Its 
harbor  is  commodious,  and  as  safe  as  can  be.  It  is  never  blocked  up  with  ice,  and  as  to 
the  egress  and  ingress  between  it  and  the  sea,  it  possesses  all  the  facilities  that  the  mari- 
ner could  desire. 

"  Moreover,  the  prevailing  winds  in  the  parallel  of  Norfolk  are  westerly  winds,  which 
are  fair  for  coasting  and  going  seaward  !n  any  direction.  A  little  to  the  south  of  that 
parallel  you  find  the  northeast  trades,  which  are  fair  winds  for  the  inward-bound  Norfolk 
vessels. 

'*  Then  there  is  the  Gulf  Stream,  that  mighty  river  in  the  ocean,  upon  the  verge  of 
which  Norfolk  stands. 

"  It  flows  up  with  a  current  which,  without  the  help  of  sweeps,  sails,  or  steam,  will 
carry  the  European-bound  vessel  out  of  Norfolk  at  the  rate  of  nearly  one  hundred  miles 
a  day,  directly  on  her  course.  Then  at  the  sides  of  this,  and  counter  to  it,  are  eddies 
which  favor  the  same  vessel  on  her  return  to  Norfolk.  These  hawse  her  along  and 
shorten  her  voyage  by  many  a  mile. 

"  Such  are  the  natural  advantages  of  Norfolk  seaward.  Let  us  look  ashore  and  con 
sider  them  landward,  and  compare  them  with  the  natural  inland  advantages  of  New 
York.  Stretch  a  string  on  the  map  from  Norfolk  to  New  York,  and  make  a  dot  half- 
way between  them.  Now  seek  a  point  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie  that  is  equidis- 
tant from  New  York  and  Norfolk  ;  draw  a  line  from  the  dot  to  this  point,  and  you  will 
have  a  dividing  line  of  distance  between  the  two  places,  every  point  along  which  will 
be  just  as  far  from  the  one  place  as  the  other.  You  will  find  that  this  line  runs  through 
Delaware  and  cuts  Lake  Erie  near  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

"  Thus  you  perceive  that  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  and  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  are  actually 
nearer  to  Norfolk  than  they  are  to  New  York,  even  by  an  air  line. 

"  You  see,  moreover,  that  as  between  New  York  and  Norfolk,  the  natural  advantages 
here  are  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

"  The  most  direct  way  to  the  sea  through  either  of  these  ports,  from  most  of  the  lake 
country,  and  from  almost  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley,  lies  through  Virginia.  The 
natural  advantages,  then,  of  Norfolk  in  relation  to  the  sea,  or  to  the  back  country,  are 
superior  beyond  comparison  to  those  of  New  York," 

In  his  great  work,  entitled  "Physical  Survey  of  Virginia,"  Commodore  Maury  fur- 
ther says  in  regard  to  the  military  advantages  of  Norfolk  : 

"  Moreover,  the  approaches  from  the  sea  to  Sandy  Hook  and  to  the  Chesapeake  are 
greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter.  In  war,  light-houses  would  be  extinguished,  and  all  light- 
boats,  beacons  and  buoys  removed.  The  channel  way  to  Sandy  Hook  is  narrow  and 
intricate,  so  that  a  vessel  flying  from  a  superior  force  in  war,  to  seek  protection  under 
the  forts  or  shelter  in  the  harbor,  would  run  great  risk  of  stranding.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  entrance  to  the  Chesapeake  is  wide,  open  and  clear  ;  ships  can  run  in  there  by  night 
as  well  as  by  day,  and  in  all  weathers. 

"  Sandy  Hook  is  hydrographically  very  easy  to  blockade  ;  the  Chesapeake  difficult. 
The  ofiings  of  Sandy  Hook  are  sheltered  on  the  north  and  west,  forming  a  lee  under 
which  blockaders  may  find  shelter  from  all  gales  coming  from  either  of  these  two  quar- 
ters of  the  horizon. 

"  At  Sandy  Hook  the  blockaders  would  have  to  watch  a  ship  channel  way  only  nine 
hundred  yards  wide.  The  entrance  to  the  Chesapeake  is  as  wide  as  the  distance  (nine 
miles)  between  the  capes  of  Virginia.  The  coast  , tjQm  Hatteras^to  Henlopen  is  rigid  and 
inhospitable,  offering  neither  shelter  nor  refreshment  to  an  enemy  in  distress." 

Between  such  a  system  of  navigation  as  that  which  centers  about  the  mouths  of  the 
Ohio  and  Missouri,  and  a  harbor  so  central,  so  capacious,  so  accessible,  and  so  conve- 
nient for  the  trade  of  the  land  and  of  the  sea  as  Norfolk,  situated  due  east,  on  the 
shortest  route  from  the  commercial  center  of  the  West,  it  would  seem  that  there  ought 
to  be  opened  a  direct  line  of  navigation.  Nowhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth  are  two 
such  vast  systems  of  navigation  brought  into  as  close  proximity  as  those  afibrded  by 
the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  by  the  rivers  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  which  almost 
touch  each  other  on  the  territory  of  Virginia, 

Nature  has  performed  the  maximum  of  the  labor  required  for  uniting  them,  and  left 
art  to  perform  the  minimum.  The  problem  is,  simply  to  extend  the  channel  of  the  Ohio, 
or  rather  of  the  Mississippi,  thirty  miles  eastward  toward  the  Chesapeake,  so  that  the 
Mississippi  may,  as  to  its  navigation,  empty  by  the  shortest  passage  into  the  Atlantic. 
The  union  of  two  such  vast  navigations  would  justify  the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars. 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  EANAWHA  CANAL. 


8d 


Distances  of  trade  points  in  the  interior  from  different  markets. 
Commodore  Maury,  in  his  Physical  Surrey  of  Virginia,  furnishes  the  following  table 
of  distances  from  leading  commercial  centers  in  the  West,  by  important  routes,  respec- 
tively to  New  York  and  Norfolk : 

Comparison  of  water  routes  as  to  length. 


From— 


Fcrt  Benton  

Omaha  

Kansas  City  

Mouth  oi  Missouri  River 
Mouth  of  Illinois  River.. 

St.  Paul  

St.  Louis  

Mouth  of  Ohio  River.... 

Memphis.  

Louisville  

Nashville  

Cincinnati  

Wheeling  , 

Pittsburg  

St.  Paul  

St.  Louis  

Cincinnati  

Louisville  

Pittsburg  

Wheeling..  

Nashville  

Mouth  of  the  Ohio  , 

Memphis  


Miles. 

6,012 
2,712 
2,368 
1,912 
1,889 
2,637 
1,932 
2,132 
2,382 
2,519 
2,397 
2,661 
3,043 
3,137 

Via  Gulf.; 

4,014 
3,223 
3,552 
3,4U 
4,028 
3,934 
3,288 
3,023 
2,798 


^5 


Miles. 
4,673 
2,373 
2,029 
1,573 
1,596 
2,344 
1,553 
1,353 
1.603 


2,344 
1,553 
824 

7  966 
872 

''778 
1>9S 
1,353 
1,603 


mies. 


339 
339 


879 
1779 
779 
1,553 
S99 
1,837 
2,265 
;  2.265 


[1,670 
1,670 
2,728 
2,444 
3,156 
3,156 
1,790 
1,670 
1,195 


This  author  indulges  in  the  following  striking  comments  upon  the  facts  developed  by 
these  tables : 

"These  figures  reveal  the  fact  that  as  between  New  Tork  and  Norfolk,  Norfolk  is 
not  only  the  nearest  Atlantic  seaport  to  the  great  valley  of  the  West,  but  that  (the  Vir- 
ginia water  line)  would  open  a  shorter  and  cheaper  route  to  New  York  than  either  the 
great  lakes  or  the  Gulf  now  afford  from  any  place  between  New  Orleans  and  St.  Paul, 
and  from  Fort  Benton  to  Mobile.  The  distance  from  Norfolk  to  New  York  is  279  sea 
miles.  And  Norfolk  by  the  proposed  route  will  be  293  miles  nearer  than  New  York  is 
by  present  routes  to  all  places  on  the  Mississippi  River  that  are  situated  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois  River.  "When  we  come  below  that  and  get  on  the  Ohio,  then  the 
flourishing  cities  on  both  sides  of  that  river  will  be  1,000  to  1,500  miles  nearer  to  New 
York  via  Norfolk  than  they  are  via  the  lakes.  This  Virginia  route  will  bring  all  places 
on  the  Mississippi  River  above  Memphis,  and  all  places  on  the  Missouri  and  its  tribu- 
taries, nearer  to  Norfolk  than  they  now  are  via  river  and  Gulf  to  New  York  by  more 
than  1,600  miles,  and  they  will  bring  all  the  landing  and  river  towns  on  the  Ohio  from 
1,700  to  3,100  miles  nearer  to  Norfolk  by  water  than  they  now  are  by  river  and  Gulf  to 
New  York." 

Relative  merits  of  the  three  icater  routes. 

The  desideratum  being  to  carry  the  largest  possible  quantity  of  freights  at  the  cheap- 
est rates,  the  necessity  of  an  additional  canal  on  the  shortest  and  most  direct  route, 
connecting  the  vast  system  of  navigation  in  the  West  with  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic, 
not  in  lieu  of  railroads,  not  in  competition  with  them  anywhere,  but  in  addition  to  and 
in  aid  of  them,  has  been  already  shown.  At  present  there  are  no  means  of  water  out- 
let for  the  produce  of  the  great  interior  of  the  continent  except  by  way  of  the  Balize, 
the  Gulfs,  and  the  Florida  Pass  on  one  hand,  and  by  way  of  the  lakes  and  the  Erie 
Canal  or  the  St.  Lawrence  River  on  the  other. 

The  eflSciency  of  the  northern  lake  and  canal  route  is  impaired  by  two  circumstances. 
The  first  of  these  is  that  the  route  is  closed  by  ice  for  five-twelfths  of  the  year,  the 
closing  taking  place  before  the  wheat  of  the  interior  country  can  be  moved  to  market 
and  before  the  corn  is  suflSciently  matured  and  dry  to  be  shipped.  The  second  isj  that 
12 


90 


JA^IES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


vessels  suitable  for  the  navigation  of  the  Erie  Canal  cannot  weather  the  storms  of  the 
lakes,  a  circumstance  which  involves  tlie  necessity  of  two  transshipments.  The  cqui- 
noxial  storms  which  endanger  the  navigation  of  the  lalces  in  September  and  October 
set  in  just  as  the  wheat  of  the  interior  begins  to  move  toward  market. 

The  efficiency  of  the  southern  route  by  the  Lower  Mississippi,  the  Gulf,  and  the 
capes  of  Florida,  is  impaired  by  several  circumstances.  The  navigation  of  the  Gulf  is 
unsafe  by  reason  of  frequent  and  sudden  storms,  and  tlie  passage  of  the  capes  of  Florida 
is  extremely  dangerous  from  the  presence  of  hidden  reefs  of  rocks.  Pilotage  on  the 
lower  river  and  insurance  upon  the  Gulf  voyage  impose  heavy  taxes  upon  all  produce 
passing  out  from  New  Orleans. 

Not  to  dwell  invidiously,  however,  on  other  disadvantages  belonging  to  these  two 
routes,  which  art  and  enterprise  may  succeed  in  removing,  the  great  irremediable  ob- 
jection to  botli  of  them  is  the  circuitous  distances  which  they  require  Avestern  trade  to 
pass  over  on  its  way  to  market,  coupled  with  the  misfortune  that  neither  of  them  lies 
wholly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  The  distance  of  St.  Louis  from 
New  York  is  1,932  miles  by  way  of  the  lakes,  and  3,223  miles  by  way  of  New  Orleans 
and  the  Gulf.  They  lie  along  either  extremity  of  the  national  territory,  and  require 
the  great  bulk  of  interior  production  to  move  around  the  extremities  of  the  country 
instead  of  moving  directly  across  it.  If,  however,  there  were  opened  a  direct  line  of 
water  transportation  from  St.  Louis  to  Norfolk,  the  distance  to  be  traversed  by  western 
grade  in  reaching  the  best  port  of  the  Atlantic  would  be  only  1 ,553  miles. 

History  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Improvement. 

We  come  now  to  speak  specially  of  the  James  Eiver  and  Kanawha  Canal  of  Virginia, 
the  completion  of  which  is  now  proposed,  and  has  become  an  object  of  a  most  lively 
and  pervading  public  concern. 

The  idea  of  a  communication  by  a  public  highway  between  the  valley  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  the  valley  of  the  James  River  is  supposed  to  have  originated  with  General 
Spotswood,  when,  on  the  20th  of  August,  1716,  he  set  out  from  Williamsburg  on  his 
expedition  over  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  first  suggestion,  however,  of  a  through  line  was 
from  Rev.  James  Maury,  in  a  letter  dated  January  10,  1756.  It  was  reserved  to  Gen- 
eral Washington,  however,  after  his  expedition  to  the  West  in  1753,  to  bring  the  subject 
prominently  forward,  v/hich  he  did  by  urging  upon  the  governor  and  council  of  Vir- 
ginia the  importance,  as  well  for  commercial  as  for  military  purposes,  of  a  connection 
between  the  East  and  the  West.  This  scheme  he  cherished  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  In  1770,  1772,  and  1774,  he  made  tours  of  examination,  with  a  view  to  supply 
himself  with  facts  which  would  enable  him  to  show  the  feasibility,  expense,  and  ad- 
vantages of  the  connection.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  29th  March,  1784,  he  informs 
him  that  he  had  been  long  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  communication  between 
the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac ;  that  he  became  the  principal  mover  of  a  bill  in 
the  general  assembly,  of  which  body  he  was  then  a  member,  to  empower  a  number  of 
subscribers  to  undertake,  at  their  own  expense,  the  extension  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Potomac  from  tide-water  to  Wills's  Creek,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  with  a  portage  between  it  and  the  streams  cai)able  of  improvement  which  run 
into  the  Ohio.  He  repeatedly  referred  to  the  same  subject  afterward,  and  seems  to 
have  been  as  profoundly  interested  in  it  as  De  Witt  Clinton  afterward  was  in  the  New 
York  and  Erie  Canal.  He  urged  the  matter  upon  Governor  Harrison,  father  of  Presi- 
dent Harrison,  who  communicated  the  subject  in  a  message  to  the  legislature  October 
18,  1784.  General  Washington  visited  the  legislature  in  person  to  confer  with  the 
members  upon  a  plan  of  internal  improvement;  and  on  the  15th  December,  ,1784, 
James  Madison,  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose,  reported  a  bill 
for  opening  and  extending  the  navigation  of  James  River,  which  became  a  law  Janu- 
ary 5,  1785,  and  was  signed  on  that,  day  by  the  speaker,  John  Tyler,  father  of  Presi- 
dent Tyler.  These  facts  show  that  this  great  improvement  Avas  the  conception  of  the 
wisest,  most  practical,  and  far-seeing  minds  of  Virginia. 

This  organization  continued  until  the  17th  day  of  February,  1820,  on  which  day  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  to  amend  the  "act  for  clearing  and  improving  the  navigation 
of  James  River,  and  for  uniting  the  eastern  and  western  waters  by  the  James  and 
Kanawha  Rivers."  By  this  act  the  rights  and  interest  of  the  James  Riv^r  Company 
were  transferred  to  the  commonwealth,  and  by  an  act  passed  February  24,  1823,  all  the 
rights,  power,  duties,  and  privileges  of  the  president  and  directors  were  conferred  on 
the  board  of  public  works,  whose  transactions  were  to  be  still  in  the  name  of  the 
"James  River  Company."    This  organization  continued  until  the  year  1835. 

The  old  James  River  Company  constructed  a  canal  around  the  falls  of  James  River, 
extending  from  the  city  of  Richmond  to  A^^estham,  a  distance  of  about  seven  miles, 
and  improved  the  bed  of  the  river  by  sluices  as  high  up  as  Buchanan. 

The  Second  James  River  Company,  on  State  account,  enlarged  and  reconstructed  the 
former  canal  from  Richmond  to  Westham,  and  extended  the  same  to  Maiden's  Adven- 


JAMES  Kim  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


91 


tnre,  in  Goocoland  County,  a  distance  of  27  miles ;  constructed  a  canal  through  the 
Blue  Ridge  seven  and  a  half  miles  long ;  constructed  a  turnpike  road  from  Covington 
to  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy  River,  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  long,  and  improved 
the  Kanawha  River  by  wing-dams  and  sluices  from  Charleston  to  its  mouth,  a  distance 
of  58  miles. 

The  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company  was  incorporated  March  16,  1832,  and  or- 
ganized May  25,  1835.  By  the  charter  the  whole  interest  of  the  commonwealth  in  the 
works  and  property  of  the  then  existing  James  River  Company  was  transferred  to  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company ;  the  State  being  interested  in  the  latter  to  the 
extent  of  three -fifths  of  its  capital  stock,  and  individuals  and  corporations  to  the  extent 
of  the  remaining  two-fifths. 

The  construction  of  the  new  canal  from  Richmond  to  Lynchburg  was  commenced  in 
1836,  and  the  work  was  completed  about  the  first  of  December,  1840. 

In  that  time  the  work  of  construction  of  the  second  division  of  the  canal  above 
Lynchburg  was  commenced,  and  prosecuted- up  to  the  year  1S42,  when,  for  want  of 
funds,  it  was  abandoned.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1847,  an  appropriation  of  $1,246,000 
was  made  by  the  legislature  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  unfinished  work  be- 
tween Lynchburg  and  North  River,  and- the  extension  and  completion  of  the  canal  to 
Buchanan. 

The  work  was  commenced  in  July,  1847,  and  completed  in  November,  ]851. 

Fifteen  miles  of  the  third  division  of  the  canal  next  above  Buchanan  was  put  under 
contract  in  August,  1853,  but  for  want  of  funds  the  work  was  suspended  in  the  fall  of 
1856.  The  work  done  on  this  portion  of  the  line  consisted  chiefly  of  stone  locks,  aque- 
ducts, and  tunneling. 

The  original  capital  of  the  company  was  85,000,000,  of  which  the  State  paid  81,000,000 
in  old  works,  and  of  the  private  subscriptions  there  proved  to  be  insolvent  $73,336 
leaving  $3,926,664  as  the  actual  available  cash  capital.  All  beyond  the  capital  thus 
realized  has  been  money  either  borrowed  directly  from  the  State  treasury  or  on  bonds 
guaranteed  by  the  State,  on  which  the  company  has  been  required  to  pay  interest  from 
the  day  it  was  received,  before  it  was  expended,  and  of  course  long  before  it  began  to 
yield  any  return. 

The  actual  cost  of  construction  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  including  the 
incomplete  works  above  Buchanan,  has  been  $10,436,869. 

To  relieve  the  company  from  its  embarrassment  and  to  enable  it  to  complete  the 
canal  to  Covington,  the  legislature,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1860,  passed  an  "  act  to  amend 
the  charter  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,"  by  which  the  capital  stock  of 
the  company  was  increased  to  312,400,000,  in  shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  and 
the  board  of  public  w^orks  w'as  directed  to  subscribe  on  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth 
in  addition  to  the  shares  now  owned  by  the  State  in  said  company',  for  seventy-four 
thousand  shares  of  said  capital  stock,  which  shall  be  declared  by  said  company  a  six 
per  cent,  preferred  stock,  on  whick  six  dollars  per  share  shall  be  paid  to  the  holders 
thereof  before  any  dividend  shall  be  paid  on  other  stock  of  said  company ;  whereof 
seventy-two  thousand  shares  shall  be  taken  in  full  satisfaction  of  the  debt  now  due 
from  the  said  company  to  the  State,  and  for  the  assumption  by  the  State  of  the  debt 
for  which  the  State  is  bound  as  the  surety  for  said  company  and  the  annuity  to  the  old 
James  River  Company ;  and  for  the  residue  of  two  thousand  shares,  the  bonds  of  the 
State  for  the  aggregate  amount  of  $200,000  are  to  be  delivered  to  the  company,  to  be 
applied  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  floating  debt  of  the  company. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1867,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  authorizing  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company  "  to  borrow  the  sum  of  $750,000,  to  be  applied  to 
paying  ofl"  the  floating  debt  of  the  company,  putting  and  keeping  its  present  works 
in  repair,  and  to  give  a  mortgage  on  the  property,  franchises,  and  net  revenues  of  the 
company,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  such  loan,"    This  loan  has  been  eflfected. 

The  capital  stock  is  at  present  held  as  follows ; 


Shares. 

Commonwealth  of  Virginia   104,000 

City  of  Richmond  ;   5,768 

City  of  Lynchburg   673 

Washington  College    100 

Individual  stockholders   13,459 


JDescription  of  the  Virginia  water  Uyie. 

The  Virginia  water  line  extends  from  tide-'n'ater,  on  James  River  at  Richmond,  to  the 
Ohio  at  Point  Pleasant,  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  a  distance  of  482  miles,  and 


consists  of  the  following  completed  and  unfinished  works  : 

Miles. 

First.  The  Richmond  Dock  and  Tide-water  connection,  (completed)   1.00 

Second.  The  first  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Richmond  to  Lynch- 
burg, (completed)   146.6D 


92 


JAMES  EIVBR  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


Third.  The  second  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan 

(completed)   50.00 

Fourth.  The  third  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Buchanan  to  Covington, 

(partially  constructed)   47.00 

Fifth.  The  fourth  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Covington  to  the  Green- 
brier River,  (not  yet  touched)   29.33 

Sixth.  The  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  to  Lyken's  Shoals  on  the  Kanawha. . . .  123.21 

Seventh.  The  Kanawha  River,  from  Lyken's  Shoals  to  the  Ohio  River    85.12 

482.16 


The  different  forms  of  navigation  on  this  route  are  thus  distributed  : 

Two  hundred  and  eight  miles  of  slack-water  navigation  from  the  Ohio  to  Howard's 

Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Greenbrier. 
Forty-two  and  three-fourth  miles  of  slack-water,  at  intervals  between  the  Greenbrier 

River  and  Richmond. 

Two  hundred  and  thirty-four  and  a  quarter  miles  of  canal  navigation.  There  are  also 
125  miles  of  river  navigation  from  Richmond  to  Norfolk. 


Cost  and  plan  of  the  work. 

In  his  report  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Lorraine,  the  engineer  of  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  Company,  speaks  as  follows  of  the  plan  proposed  for  completing  the  line,  and 
of  the  portion  of  the  work  now  in  use  : 

"I  have  provided  for  a  canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Greenbrier  River  of  the  same  di» 
mensions  as  the  enlarged  Erie  Canal,  viz :  42  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  70  feet  at  the 
water  surface,  and  with  a  depth  of  water  of  7  feet ;  the  locks  to  be  120  feet  long  be- 
tween the  gates,  and  20  feet  wide. 

"  The  locks  will  admit  boats  about  108  feet  long  and  19  feet  wide,  with  6  feet  draught 
of  water ;  such  boats  will  carry  at  least  280  tons,  but  I  will  put  the  average  loads  at  250 
tons. 

"  I  propose  to  establish  the  summit  at  a  level  1,700  feet  above  tide,  or  20  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Greenbrier  River  at  the  mouth  of  Howard's  Creek,  and  pass  through 
the  Alleghany  Mountain  by  a  tunnel  about  nine  miles  long.  We  would  thus,  by  feeding 
directly  from  the  Greenbrier  River,  be  enabled  to  pass  the  summit  level  without  the  aid 
of  reservoirs. 

"  I  have  provided  for  a  tunnel  56  feet  wide  and  32  feet  high,  with  a  water-way  44  feet 
wide,  and  a  tow-path  of  solid  mortared  masonry  on  each  side  6  feet  wide,  so  that  boats 
drawn  by  horses  can  pass  each  other  without  inconvenience ;  but 'these  tow-paths  may 
be  dispensed  with,  and  the  tunnel,  excavated  to  its  full  width  of  26  feet,  may  be  navi- 
gated by  steam-tugs  towing  the  canal-boats  through  it. 

"  This  tunnel,  with  the  favorable  character  of  the  mountain  for  the  location  of  numer- 
ous shafts;  and  the  facilities  which  the  late  improvements  in  automatic  machine  drilling 
have  afforded  for  the  rapid  prosecution  of  that  kind  of  work,  could  be  completed  prob- 
ably as  quick  as  the  rest  of  the  work,  (say  in  four  years.)  On  the  line  of  the  short  tun- 
nel, as  located,  there  are  three  depressions  in  the  mountain  at  which  shafts  may  be  sunk; 
one  129  feet,  one  264  feet,  and  one  215  feet  deep,  or  three  shafts  in  2^  miles,  averaging 
203  feet  deep. 

*'The  estimate  for  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  is  for  steamboat  navigation,  with 
stone  dams  and  locks,  the  locks  to  be  200  feet  long  and  40  feet  wi'de,  with  7  feet  depth 
of  water;  extending  to  Lyken's  Shoals,  on  the  Kanawha,  where  sluice  navigation  will 
begin. 

"  As  it  would  be  useless  to  construct  the  canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Ohio  River,  on 
an  enlarged  scale,  without  making  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  size  of  the  locks  and  in 
the  depth  of  the  canal  from  Richmond  to  Buchanan,  I  have  made  an  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  building  new  locks  120  by  20  by  the  side  of  the  old  ones,  and  of  increasing  the 
depth  of  the  water  in  the  canal  to  7  feet." 

The  cost  of  enlarging  the  present  canal,  of  completing  it  to  the  Greenbrier  River  on 
the  enlarged  scale,  and  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Greenbrier,  the  New,  and  the 
Kanawha  Rivers,  on  the  scale  thus  described,  is  given  by  the  engineer  at  $37,363,911. 
The  capacity  of  the  canal  thus  enlarged  for  transmitting  tonnage  will  be  measured  by 
the  capacity  of  the  great  tunnel  on  the  summit  level  and  of  the  locks  approaching  it. 
This  capacity  is  thus  stated  by  Mr.  Lorraine  : 

"  The  boats  will  carry,  in  fact,  280  tons ;  but  I  will  put  the  average  loads  at  250  tons, 
and  will  suppose  that  one  boat  will  pass  through  the  locks  in  every  7^  minutes,  or  192 
boats  per  day  for  300  days,  and  obtain  14,300,000  tons  as  the  actual  capacity  of  the  canal 
with  a  full  trade.  It  would  be  fair,  then,  to  assume  the  half  of  this  sum,  or  say  7,000,000 
tons,  as  the  probable  tonnage." 


JAMES  EIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


93 


The  theoretic  capacity  of  th's  canal  will,  therefore,  be  fourteen  millions  of  tons,  its 
actual  capacity  at  least  seven  millions. 

The  plan  of  construction  and  enlargement,  thus  described  and  devised  by  Mr.  Lorraine, 
is  approved  and  commended  by  B.  H.  Latrobe,  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on  such 
subjects ;  as  also  by  Major  General  Charles  P.  Stone,  late  of  the  United  States  Army. 
General  Stone,  in  a  letter  pubhshed  in  a  document  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Company,  says  of  the  long  tunnel  proposed  by  Mr.  Lorraine  : 

"  The  plan  requires  the  following  operations  : 

1st.  The  driving  of  a  tunnel  nine  miles  long,  or,  in  effect,  nine  tunnels  each  one  mile 
long,  56  feet  wide,  and  32  feet  high. 

"2d.  The  construction  of  a  strong,  perfect  dam  across  the  Greenbrier  River,  to  make 
it  sure  as  a  feeder. 

*•  Of  the  above  nine  tunnels  Mr.  Lorraine  proposes  to  drive  seven,  each  between  two 
shafts  12  feet  in  diameter — two  between  a  shaft  at  one  end  and  a  thorough  cut  at  the 
other. 

*'  As  regards  the  feasibility  of  the  succession  of  tunnels,  I  think  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion. 

"  By  the  sinking  of  eight  shafts,  the  matter  is  reduced  to  the  driving  of  nine  tunnels, 
each  one  mile  long,  so  that  it  really  is  a  question  at  each  point  of  driving  a  mile  of  tun- 
nel.   More  than  that  has  been  done  in  Virginia,  and  can  be  done  again. 

"  As  to  the  feasibility  of  the  dam  across  Greenbrier  River,  I  suppose  no  one  will  hold 
that  to  be  either  impracticable  or  even  a  difficult  operation." 

Financial  promise  of  the  work. 

With  reference  to  the  financial  promise  of  this  line  of  navigation,  Mr.  Lorraine  pre- 
sents the  following  estimates : 


Capital  invested  in  new  works,  say   $40,000,000 

Capital  invested  in  old  works,  say   4,926,664 

Preferred  six  per  cent,  stock  of  the  State  ,   7,400,000 


Total  capital  invested   52,326,664 


Probable  revenues. 

7,000,000  tons  through  freight,  485  miles,  at  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile   $6,790,000 

100,000  tons  way  freight,  say  50  miles,  at  1  cent  per  ton  per  mile   50,000 

200,000  tons  to  and  from  Lynchburg,  146  miles,  at  f  cent  per  ton  per  mile.  219,000 
100,000  tons  to  and.  from  Buchanan  and  Lexington,  196  miles,  at  ^  cent 

per  ton  per  mile   98,000 

200,000  tons  to  and  from  Covington,  243  miles,  at  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  194,400 
300,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Valley  to  Lynchburg,  and  to  iron  fur- 
naces on  line  of  canal,  250  miles,  at  2.5  mills  per  ton  per  mile   187,500 

200,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Valley  to  Richmond,  400  miles,  at  2  mills 

per  ton  per  mile   160,000 

500,000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  Valley  to  New  York  and  other  eastern 

cities  via  Richmond,  400  miles,  at  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile   400,000 

Revenue  from  tonnage  of  Kanawha  westward   400,000 

Revenue  from  Richmond  dock  ,   400,000 

Revenue  from  water  rents   30,000 

Revenue  from  boats  and  passengers   100,000 


9,028,900 

Expenses  of  repairs  and  administration,  $750  per  mile   363,750 


Net  revenue   8,665,150 

Which  is  more  than  16  per  cent,  on  a  capital  of   53,000,000 


It  is  legitimate  to  conclude  that -this  work,  which  will  be  open  for  business  throughout 
almost  the  whole  year,  will  compare  favorably  in  its  financial  results  with  the  Erie 
Canal. 

The  entire  cost  of  constructing  the  Erie  Canal  to  1863  was  $38,977,831,  (nearly  thirty- 
nine  millions.)  This  sum  with  interest  to  1863  amounted  to  $52,491,915.  During  the 
same  period  the  gross  receipts  from  tolls  were  $71,783,676,  (nearly  seventv-two  millions.) 
After  deducting  expenses  (812,518,860)  there  remained  a  net  profit  of  $59,264,812,  not 
only  sufficient  to  pay  the  entire  cost  of  construction  with  interest,  but  leaving  a  surplus 
of  nearly  seven  millions  of  dollars.   Of  the  gross  earmngs,it  appears  that  but  little  morq 


94 


JASIES  mVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


than  one-sixth  was  required  to  meet  expenses  and  repairs.  Five-sixths  were  net  gain. 
This  included  not  only  the  period  after  the  enlargement,  but  before,  when  the  canal  was 
in  an  unfinished  condition,  with  costs  of  repairs  greater  and  receipts  less.  Since  1862, 
the  net  earnings  have  been  about  iweniy  millions  of  dollars  more.  From  1862  to  the  end 
of  the  fiscal  year  1868,  the  amount  of  tolls  paid  to  the  State  was  $25,260,384.  No  other 
improvement,  railroad  or  other,  can  make  such  an  exhibit.  The  Erie  Canal  has  not  only 
paid  for  its  own  construction,  but  makes  itself  a  present  to  the  State,  with  about  $27,- 
000,000  net  profit. 

Freedom  of  the  Virginia  water  line  from  ice. 

Accurate  memoranda  have  been  kept  of  the  number  of  days  during  which  the  Vir- 
ginia Canal  has  been  closed  by  ice  for  twenty  years  past,  and  the  grand  aggregate  for  the 
whole  period  has  been  only  three  hundred  and  two  days,  or  an  average  of  fifteen  days 
each  year.  During  ten  of  these  years  there  was  no  closure  by  freezing.  But  the  closure 
during  any  one  season  is  never  continuous,  being  broken  by  intervals  of  thaw.  The  ice 
during  these  freezings  is  scarcely  ever  so  thick  that  it  cannot  be  readily  broken  by  ice- 
boats. These  freezings,  therefore,  ean  never  operate  seriously  to  put  a  stop  to  navigation. 
Boats  may  continue  to  run  throughout  the  season  without  apprehension  of  any  longer 
detention  at  any  one  time  than  a  few  days. 

The  reports  alluded  to,  of  the  number  of  days  of  closing  by  ice,  refer  to  the  mountain 
portion  of  the  Virginia  Canal,  to  wit,  the  portion  which  passes  through  the  Blue  Ridge. 

The  summit  section,  being  a  tunnel,  will  never  freeze.  The  unvarying  temperature 
of  the  tunnel  through  the  Hoosac  Mountain,  in  the  high  latitude  of  Massachusetts,  is  52 
degrees  the  year  round.  The  temperature  of  the  proposed  tunnel  through  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains  for  the  summit  level  will  probably  not  be  lower  than  that  of  the  Hoosac 
tunnel. 

The  elevation  of  the  former  tunnel  is  only  1,700  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  it 
is  more  than  three  degrees  of  latitude  to  the  south  of  the  Hoosac. 

Banger  from  floods  of  the  mountain  sections  of  the  canal. 

It  is  popularly  supposed  that  canals  through  moimtain  sections  of  country  are  exceed- 
ingly liable  to  injury  from  floods.  Experience  seems  to  teach,  however,  that  this  is  an 
unfounded  apprehension.  From  the  letter  of  Mr.  Lorraine  on  this  subject  accompany- 
ing this  report,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mountainous  sections  of  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  Canal  have  suffered  no  more  from  this  cause  than  the  sections  in  the  low 
country,  and  that  the  cost  of  annual  repairs  on  the  mountain  sections  is  no  greater. 
Reference  is  made  to  Mr.  Lorraine's  letter,  appended  to  this  report,  for  valuable  and  in- 
teresting information  on  this  subject. 

Relative  cost  of  road  and  water  transportation. 

The  most  important  element  entering  into  the  question  of  an  additional  canal,  con- 
structed as  proposed,  on  the  most  direct  and  central  route  of  the  continent  from  the 
center  of  the  interior  field  of  production,  to  the  central  shipping  port  of  the  seaboard, 
is  the  subject  of  relative  cheapness  of  carriage  over  long  distances  by  water  and  by 
rail.  Mr.  Lorraine,  adopting  the  conclusions  of  Mr.  McAlpine,  of  New  York,  presents 
the  following  table  as  indicating  the  cost  of  carrying  produce  over  different  sorts  of 
route : 

Mills. 


Ocean — transportation,  average   1.5 

Lakes — long  ,   2.0 

Short   3.4 

Rivers — Hudson,  and  of  similar  character   2.5 

Mississippi  and  Ohio   3.0 

Canal — Erie  enlargement   4.0 

ordinary  size   5.0 

Railroads — average  •   15.Q 


Over  common  roads,  wheat  cannot  go  to  market  over  a  greater  distance  than  250  miles, 
nor  corn  further  than  125.  But  if  railroads  can  carry  produce  at  as  low  a  rate  as  one 
and  a  quarter  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  the  radii  within  which  corn  and  wheat  can  be  car- 
ried by  them  to  market  is  increased  respectively  to  1,600  and  3,200  miles. 

But  if  we  assume  five  mills  as  the  cost  of  freight  on  canal  and  river  navigation, 
(which  is  higher  than  necessary,)  then  wheat  may  be  brought  from  a  distance  of  6,000 
miles,  still  leaving  60  cents  a  bushel  to  the  farmer,  and  corn  from  points  3,000  miles 
from  market,  leaving  the  cost  of  production  to  the  grower.  Upon  the  scale  of  charges 
indicated  in  the  statement  which  we  have  given  above,  Mr.  Lorraine  has  computed 


JAMES  mVEU  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL* 


95 


the  following  table,  showing  the  saving  in  the  cost  of  transportation  which  would  result 
to  the  "\^"est  from  the  construction  of  the  Virginia  water  line. 

It  is  not  contended  that  these  tables  show  actual  costs.  They  only  show  the  result 
of  applying  the  average  rates,  drawn  from  a  great  multitude  of  transactions,  to  the  dis- 
tances respectively  indicated. 


BoQtes. 


Dubuque  to  Hampton  Eoads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Dubuque  to  New  York  by  railroads  

Dubuque  to  New  York  by  Chicago,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal.. 
Dubuque'to  Kew  York  by  Toledo,  lakes,  and  Erie  Canal.. 
Dub.'^que  to  Xew  York  by  Mis&i.s.^ippi  River  and  ocean..., 

St.  Louis  to  Hampton  Koads  by  Virginia  water  lino  

St.  Louis  to  N.  York  by  Illinois  &  Michigan  and  Erie  Canals 
St.  Louis  to  IV.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  Erie  Canals 

St.  Louis  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  River  and  ocean  

Louisville  to  Hampton  Koads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Louisville  to  N.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie  Canals 

Evansville  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

Evansville  to  New  York  by  Wabash  and  Erie  Canals  

Cincinnati  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line.... 
Cincinnati  to  N.  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie  Canals 

Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Miami  and  Erie  Canals  

Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  River  and  ocean... 
W  heeling  to  Baltimore  by  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad... 

Wheeling  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water  line  

St.  Louis  to  Liverpovyl  by  New  Orleans  

St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

Cincinnati  to  Liverpool  by  i\ew  Orleans  

Cincinnati  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

"Louisville  to  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans  

Louisville  to  Liverpool  by  Virginia  water  line  

Memphis  to  Norfolk  by  railroad  

Memphis  to  Norfolk  by  Virginia  water  line  


1,977 
1,145 
l,7bl 
1,165 
3,515 
1,513 
1,960 
1,813 
3,051 

949 
1,249 
1,140 
1,"220 

Si6 
1,116 
1,019 
3,398 

330 

787 
6,529 
5,223 
6,^76 
4,526 
6,713 
4,659 

956 
1,583 


$6  52 

17  17 

6  ^  '8 
9  22 

7  86 
5  13 

5  8!4 

6  70 
6  47 

3  44 

4  01 


01 
07 
04 
61 
07 
6! 
70 
95 

11  69 
10  79 

12  73 

8  70 
12  33 

9  10 
14  34 

5  34 


(=1 


3.1) 

2r3 

2,582 


1,3.6 
V,350 
V,863 


The  cost  of  transportation  is  a  loss  in  the  value  of  the  product  of  the  industry  of  the 
country,  whether  agricultural,  mineral,  or  manufacturing,  except  to  the  extent  of  the 
clear  profit  io  the  carriers,  and  it  diminishes  the  value  at  home  of  everything  which 
wiil  not  bear  transportation  in  the  same  proportion.  This  loss  and  this  diminution  is 
measured  by  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  annually.  There  is  a  point  beyond  which 
the  necessary  charges  of  railroad  transportation  in  conveying  heavy  freight  from  the 
place  of  production  to  the  place  of  consumption  leave  no  profit  to  the  producer,  and 
thus  check  both  production  and  consumption.  From  Dubuque,  only  188  miles  by  rail- 
road west  of  Chicago,  the  charges,  when  the  water  line  through  the  lakes  and  Erie 
Canal  is  closed,  usually  average  per  ton  for  fourth-class  freight  (which  pays  least)  to 
New  York,  $  Ti^  or  at  the  rate  of  69  cents  on  a  bushel  of  wheat ;  for  first,  second  and 
third  classes  they  range  from  $31  to  $49  per  ton.  Vv'hen  wheat  is  worth  there  about  $1 
per  bushel,  it  costs  about  70  per  cent,  of  its  value  to  carry  it  to  market.  From  100 
miles  in  the  interior  of  Iowa,  ihe  farmer  who  has  1,000  bushels  of  wheat  has  to  give 
500  bushels  to  carry  the  other  500  bushels  to  the  Atlantic  market.  Ou  all  other  cereals, 
the  percentage  on  the  value  paid  for  transportation  is  still  greater. 

West  of  the  Missouri  Kiver  from  Sioux  City,  Omaha,  Leavenworth,  and  Kansas  City, 
there  is  a  country  extending  for  hundreds  of  miles  still  farther  from  the  Atlantic,  with 
immense  capacity  for  the  production  of  wheat  and  corn,  beef  and  pork,  which  must 
remain  valueless  as  a  grain-producing  region,  though  of  almost  boundless  capacity  for 
the  smaller  cereals,  unless  a  less  costly  means  of  sending  its  produce  to  market  be  fur- 
nished than  by  railroad,  or  even  by  railroad  and  the  lakes.  Nor  are  the  railroad  charges 
necessarily  extortionate  ;  they  are  much  lower  than  the  average  of  charges,  and  from 
the  far  AVest  often  lower  than  the  roads  can  carry  it  with  profit. 

The  two  great  railroads  of  New  York,  the  Erie  and  the  New  York  Central,  struggling 
as  they  have  been,  in  competition  with  each  other,  and  trying  even  to  compete  with 
the  Erie  Canal,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  able  to  carry  freight  on  as  favorable  terms  as 
any  other  lines  for  transportation  of  ordinary  produce  freight  and  merchandise,  and 
which  are  also  used  as  lines  of  travel.  Koads  constructed  as  coal  roads,  with  grades 
and  curves  to  suit  an  immense  freight,  miy,  and  in  some  instances  do,  carry  at  a  lower 
rate.    But  these  latter  bear  no  resemblance  to  the  nature  of  structure  and  operating 


/  ■ 

96  SAum  nmn  and  kanawha  canal* 

expenses  of  such  lines  as  must  be  relied  on  for  conducting  the  freight  and  passenger 
business  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  West. 

Taking  the  two  principal  New  York  roads,  then,  as  an  average  of  what  such  roads  can 
do,  their  reports  for  the  year  18(30  show  that  the  rates  per  ton  per  mile  for  that  year 
were  as  follows:  New  Yorl^,  Central  2.92  cents,  or  for  the  whole  distance  of  440  miles 
from  Buffalo  to  New  York,  the  sum  of  $12  85,  or  at  the  rate  of  35.6  cents  for  a  bushel 
of  wheat;  Erie  Kailroad  2.45  cents,  or  for  the  whole  distance  from  Erie  to  New  York  of 
460  miles  $11  27,  or  for  a  bushel  of  wheat  34.4  cents. 

Official  reports  for  1868  show  that  the  average  charges  for  transportation  on  the  New 
York  roads  for  that  year  were  a  fraction  over  2 J  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  These  charges 
will  average  from  the  Mississippi  about  $  24  a  ton,  or  about  72  cents  for  a  bushel  of 
wheat.  There  may  be  exceptional  cases,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  where  the 
charges  may  be  temporarily  somewhat  lower ;  but  they  oftener  exceed  than  fall  short 
of  that  amount. 

During  the  season  of  navigation  with  railroad  transportation  only  to  the  lakes,  these 
charges  could  be  considerably  reduced,  and  are  much  lower  than  when  there  is  not  a 
pressure  upon  the  tonnage  capacity  of  the  lake  vessels  and  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  navigation  season,  especially  during  summer,  the 
charges  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo  range  from  about  5  to  10  cents  per  bushel  on  wheat, 
and  from  Buffalo  to  New  York,  through  the  canal,  from  about  U  to  14  cents,  tolls  in- 
cluded ;  while  during  September,  October  and  November,  when  the  bulk  of  the  western 
crop  is  seeking  a  market,  the  charges  go  up  from  10  to  over  26  cents  from  Chicago  to 
Buffalo,  and  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  from  14  to  as  high  as  30  cents  per  bushel, 
averaging  more  than  double  the  rates  at  which  freight  can  be  carried,  and  is  carried 
when  there  is  no  pressure  upon  the  shipping  of  the  lakes  and  upon  the  canal.  These 
charges  are  of  course  increased  or  diminished  in  like  proportion  as  to  all  other  freights. 

The  effort  to  escape  still  higher  charges  by  railroad  presses  the  products  of  the  West 
upon  the  water  line,  and  thus  enables  the  carriers,  whether  by  lake  or  canal,  to  in- 
crease their  charges,  and  the  canal  company  is  also  thus  enabled  to  increase  its  rate  of 
tolls,  of  which  advantage  both  carrier  and  canal  company  are  not  slow  to  avail  them- 
selves. 

With  the  increasing  products  of  the  West  and  Northwest  this  evil  will  continue  to 
increase.  Even  the  advantage  of  a  water  line  connecting  the  Upper  Mississippi  with 
the  lakes,  and  thereby  cheapening  the  transportation  to  one-third  the  present  charges, 
for  that  portion  of  the  route,  will  be  to  a  great  extent  neutralized  by  the  increased 
pressure,  and  consequently  higher  charges  from  the  lakes  inward  unless  the  pressure  is 
relieved  and  held  in  check  by  the  competition  of  other  cheap  and  continuous  water  lines 
of  transportation. 

Relation  of  the  work  to  coal  supply. 

It  is  well  known  to  geological  men  that  the  veins  of  bituminous  coal  which  pervade 
the  entire  western  slope  of  the  Appalachian  chain  of  mountains  have  their  maximum 
aggregate  thickness  in  the  Kanawha  Yalley  and  in  the  adjacent  regions  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  and  Ohio. 

The  coals  of  these  regions  are  now  shipped  around  by  way  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
Gulf  to  New  York,  at  a  profit  to  the  miner  and  dealer.  The  quality  of  this  cannel  coal 
is  equal  to  that  of  the  coals  of  England  and  Nova  Scotia  imported  into  New  York.  It 
has  become  important  to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the-  seaboard  cities  to  obtain 
adequate  supplies  of  the  best  qualities  of  bituminous  coals  from  shorter  distances  than 
those  from  which  they  are  now  derived,  and  at  cheaper  rates.  The  most  intelligent 
manufacturers  and  dealers  in  coal,  of  New  York  and  the  eastern  cities,  recognize  the 
necessity  of  a  resort  to  the  cannel  and  bituminous  coals  of  the  Kanawha,  Coal,  Guyan- 
dotte  and  Sandy  Kivers  for  fuel ;  a  fact  which  is  fully  established  by  the  shipments 
that  are  now  making  of  the  coals  of  that  region  by  the  roundabout  route  of  New  Or- 
leans to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  opening  of  the  Virginia  canal  will  settle  the  question  of  an  adequate  coal  supply 
for  the  eastern  cities  and  relieve  the  apprehension  and  scarcity  now  felt  by  eastern 
manufacturers  on  that  vital  subject.  Valuable  as  this  water  line  will  be  to  the  West, 
as  shown  in  these  pages,  its  importance  is  doubled  by  the  fact  that  the  work  is  vital  to 
the  success  of  the  manufacturing  system  of  the  east,  as  a  means  of  supplying  the  best 
bituminous  coals  of  the  continent  from  the  nearest  mines  by  the  most  direct  navigation 
and  at  the  cheapest  rates. 

THE  THIJID  SESOLUTION. 

ill.  Your  committee  approve  the  third  resolution  submitted  for  their  consideration, 
which  declares  that  this  work,  being  of  great  national  importance,  is  "entitled  to_ re- 
ceive such  aid  from  the  national  government  as  will  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest 
possible  period." 


JAMES  mVER  AND  KANiWHA  CANAJL. 


97 


One  of  the  most  distinguislied  American  statesmen  of  a  former  generation  said, 
twenty-five  years  ago : 

"The  invention  of  Fnlton  has,  in  reality,  for  all  practical  purposes,  converted  the 
Mississippi,  with  all  its  great  tributaries,  into  an  inland  sea.  Kegarding  it  as  such,  I 
am  prepared  to  place  it  on  the  same  footing  with  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  coasts,  the 
Chesapeake  and  Delaware  bays,  and  the  lakes,  in  reference  to  the  superintendence  of 
the  General  Government  over  its  navigation.  It  is  manifest  that  it  is  far  beyond  the 
power  of  individuals  or  of  separate  States  to  supervise  it,  as  there  are  eighteen  States, 
including  Texas  and  the  Territories  (more  than  half  the  Union)  which  lie  within  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  or  border  on  its  navigable  tributaries." 

Claims  of  the  great  communities  interested  in  cheap  freights  and  cheap  food  upon  Oov- 
ernment  for  aid  to  this  national  work. 

If  the  work  under  discussion  be  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  two  great 
objects  of  affording  adequate  means  of  outlet  to  market  for  the  products  of  the  inte- 
rior, and  supplying  cheap  food  to  the  populations  of  the  Atlantic  States  ;  if,  moreover, 
this  work  be  a  necessary  supplement  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  its 
tributaries,  then  all  that  is  predicated  as  to  the  duty  of  the  Government  with  reference 
to  the  western  rivers  is  true  with  a  reference  to  the  proposed  outlet  of  their  navigation 
by  the  shortest  and  most  central  line  to  the  ocean.  And,  when  we  consider  that  in 
time  of  war  both  of  the  other  existing  routes  of  water  transportation  between  the  inte- 
rior and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  are  liable  to  complete  interruption,  leaving  the  West 
glutted  with  vast  stores  of  surplus  food,  and  the  East  suffering  from  the  want  of  it, 
the  failure  of  Government  to  provide  an  outlet  of  interior  navigation  on  the  most  direct 
and  central  route  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  ocean,  safe  from  hostile  assault  or  threat, 
assumes  a  serious  aspect.  We  come  on  reflection  to  regard  the  provision  of  such  an 
outlet  as  an  urgent  duty  of  Government,  and  to  look  upon  the  neglect  to  pro\'ide  one 
as  a  grave  dereliction. 

Commodore  Maury  makes  the  follovring  cogent  reflections  upon  this  subject : 

"In  case  of  a  war,  in  which  Canada  should  become  the  seat,  the  farmers  of  the 
West  may  well  ask  the  question.  What  would  become  of  them  ?  The  lakes  would  be 
impassable  to  vessels  of  commerce,  and  their  produce,  as  recent  experience  has 
abundantly  taught  them,  could  not  aflford  to  pay  railway  freights  and  monopolies  that 
Eastern  combinations  would  be  sure  to  exact. 

"The  only  inland  water  line  by  which  the  Mississippi  Yalley  can  be  connected  with 
the  ocean,  so  as  to  have  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circumstances,  in  peace  and  in  war, 
a  convenient  and  unmolested  highway  to  the  Atlantic  sea-front,  leads  through  Virginia. 
The  Alleghany  Mountains  aflford  no  passes  for  such  to  the  north  of  us,  and,  until  the 
country  avails  itself  of  these,  there  is  no  protection  in  war  for  Western  commerce,  and 
farmers  there  must  console  themselves  as  best  they  may,  under  the  humiliating  reflec- 
tion that  they  are  cut  oflf  with  their  produce  from  the  commercial  intercourse  with  the 
great  markets  of  their  country,  from  the  metropolis  of  the  nation,  and  from  the  high- 
way of  nations  ;  that  if  they  go  by  lake  or  Gulf,  the  way  is  not  their  own,  but  such  as 
others  may  overlook,  and,  at  pleasure,  dispute  and  endanger,  if  not  forbid.  Whereas 
their  rights  through  Virginia  none  can  dispute,  and  the  way  is  wholly  their  own,  and  as 
safe  and  secure  in  war  as  in  peace. 

"In  short,  considering  that  the  expenses  via  New  Orleans  and  the  Florida  Pass  are, 
in  a  great  measure,  prohibitory  to  Northwestern  breadstuflfs,  and  that  the  Erie  Canal 
has  not  the  capacity  to  pass  more  of  Western  produce  than  it  is  now  doing,  and  that 
this  produce  cannot  stand  the  charges  of  railway  transportation  from  its  place  of  pro- 
duction to  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  it  is  clear  that  Western  farmers  can 
contribute  but  little  more  to  the  exports  of  the  country  until  a  new  way  to  the  sea  has 
been  opened  for  them.  Until  this  be  granted  them,  the  commerce  of  that  portion  of 
the  country  cannot  expand  proportionally  with  the  growth  of  the  West." 

Hecommendations  of  the  Committee. 

Your  committee  find  that  the  present  works  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Com- 
pany furnish  a  basis  of  credit  to  the  amount  of  810,000,  free  from  incumbrance,  except 
a  mortgage  securing  a  debt  (not  all  issued)  of  $750,000.  The  further  sum  of  $J:0,000,- 
000  will  be  required  for  enlarging  present  works,  and  completing  the  remainder  of  the 
line  to  the  Ohio  river.  The  whole  work  can  be  executed  in  the  period  of  four  years. 
The  expenditure  will  therefore  be  made  nearly  at  the  rate  of  $10,000,000  a  year, 
during  which  period  the  earnings  of  the  line  pay  but  a  small  portion  of  the  interest  on 
the  outlay.  The  maximum  of  interest  which  will  thus  be  paid,  while  the  work  is  under 
construction,  may  reach  six  millions  of  dollars  ;  so  that  a  lien  taken  upon  the  present 
works  of  the  company,  worth  ten  millions,  and  upon  the  property  of  the  entire  line, 
will  secure  the  advance  of  six  millions  required  for  interest,  and  for  the  bonds  which 
may  be  used  in  providing  the  means  of  paying  for  construction. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  the  State  of  Virginia,  the  cities  of  Richmond  and  Lynch- 

13 


98 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


burg  and  "Washington  College,  own  together  110,541  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  while  only  13,459  shares  are  owned  by  private 
Individuals ;  the  State  herself  owning  104,000  shares,  or  more  than  four-fifths  of  the 
stock.  The  National  Government,  therefore,  in  dealing  with  this  company,  would  prac- 
tically be  dealing  with  the  State  herself. 

As  shown  by  the  estimates  of  the  engineer,  the  net  annual  income  expected  from  the 
line,  when  completed,  will  be  $8,665,150.  If  we  deduct  one-fourth  of  this  amount  for 
errors  and  contingencies,  there  will  remain  83,500,000.  The  interest  on  $40,000,000 
will  be  $2,400,000.  The  net  income  will  therefore  pay  the  interest  on  the  bonded  debt, 
and  produce  a  balance,  clear  of  charges,  of  $4,100,000,  which  may  be  used  as  a  sink- 
ing fund  for  the  liquidation  of  the  debt  in  ten  years.  Actual  results  attending  the  ope- 
ration of  the  Erie  Canal  sustain  the  validity  of  these  calculations,  and  justify  your  com- 
mittee in  the  recommendations  they  submit. 

"With  the  foregoing  statments  as  to  the  commerce  of  the  inland  States,  which  have 
been  carefully  and  considerately  prepared,  and  as  to  existing  and  contemplated  means 
for  transporting  the  materials  of  that  commerce,  your  committee  come  to  the  following 
conclusions  : 

That  cheap  transportation  for  the  products  of  the  interior  of  the  country  is  not  only 
a  necessity,  but  is  demanded  by  the  highest  considerations  of  public  policy : 

That  to  secure  it,  additional  direct  and  continuous  lines  of  water  communication  are 
imperatively  needed,  and  should  be  provided  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the 
Atlantic  seaboard — not  only  as  a  means  of  freightage,  but  in  order  that  requisite 
competition  may  be  maintained  between  transportation  lines. 

That  as  one  of  these  means  of  water  communication  the  route  to  be  afforded  by  the 
James  River  and  Kanawlia  Canal,  if  extended  to  the  Ohio  River  as  proposed,  has  spe- 
cial prominence. 

That  the  work  necessary  for  the  completion  of  this  canal  on  the  scale  deemed  essen- 
tial for  its  great  objects  is  demonstrated  by  eminent  engineers  to  be  practicable  of  early 
completion  and  feasible. 

That  such  a  work  would  be  national  in  its  character  and  entitled  to  receive  national 
aid  to  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  possible  period. 

That  in  order  that  it  shall  enure  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  ?J1  private  and 
corporate  proprietorship  in  it  should  be  removed,  (which  removal  should  be  a  condi- 
tion precedent  to  the  grant  of  aid  by  the  General  Government,)  and  when  the  cost  of 
construction,  as  represented  by  the  outlay  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  of  the  nation, 
shall  be  fully  reimbursed,  the  commerce  conducted  on  the  canal  shall  be  subjected  only 
to  such  tolls  as  may  be  necessary  for  its  repair. 

As  embodying  these  conclusions,  it  is  respectfully  recommended  that  the  executive 
council  of  the  National  Board  of  Trade  be  directed  to  memorialize  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  in  reference  to  the  subject,  of  extending  aid  to  the  James  River  and  Kan- 
awha Canal  project,  as  herein  set  forth,  praying  its  consideration  at  an  early  day. 

J.  J.  PORTER,  Chairman,  Louisville. 

JNO.  A.  GANO,  Cincinnati. 

L.  Y.  MUNN,  Chicago. 

THOS.  M.  MONROE,  Dubuque. 

R.  TOPP,  Memphis. 

J.  P.  WETHERILL,  Philadelphia. 

R.  "W.  HUGHES,  Norfolk. 

CHAS.  S.  CARRINGTON,  Richmond. 


Office  of  the  James  River^axd  Kaxawha  CoMPA^••r, 

"  Bichmond,  February  5,  1869. 

Dear  Sir  :  At  your  request,  I  offer  the  following  facts  in  answer  to  the  objections 
made  to  canals  in  mountain  districts. 

It  is  granted  that  a  canal  in  a  mountain  country  is,  on  account  of  the  lockage,  less 
profitable  than  one  on  a  level  plain,  exactly  as  a  railroad  with  high  grades  and  sharp 
curves  is  less  profitable  than  one  with  low  grades  and  easy  curves ;  but  it  is  denied 
that  there  is  anything  inherent  in  mountain  countries  to  render  the  construction  or 
maintenance  of  canals  impracticable  or  unprofitable,  any  more  than  railroads  or  com- 
mon roads. 

The  main  objections  that  have  been  urged  against  mountain  canals  are,  that  the 
works  are  injured  or  destroyed  and  the  prism  of  the  canal  filled  up  by  the  mountain 
torrents  falling  into  them,  and,  especially  on  lock  and  dam  improvements,  that  the  dams 
are  broken  and  swept  away  by  the  sudden  incursions  of  high  water,  subjecting  the 
navigation  to  frequent  interruptions  and  long  delays. 

To  meet  these  objections  it  is  not  necessary  to  refer  to  canals  in  foreign  countries  or 


JAMES  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


99 


in  other  States ;  they  can  be  best  answered  by  an  appeal  to  the  history  and  condition  of 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal ;  and  as  the  objections  were  made  mainly  in  op- 
position to  the  construction  of  that  canal,  it  appears  lo  be  eminently  fit  that  it  should 
appear  in  its  own  defense,  and  appeal  to  the  facts  in  its  own  history  in  contradiction  of 
any  statement  injuriously  affecting  its  future  career. 

The  James  River  Canal  commences  at  Richmond  and  extends  to  Lynchbv.r^,  a  dis- 
tance of  1465-  miles.  The  lockage  in  this  distance  is  429  feet,  or  nearly  3^  feet  to  the 
mile.  At  Lynchburg  it  may  be  said  to  enter  the  mountain  district  of  the  State,  and  24 
miles  above  Lynchburg  it  arrives  at  tlie  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountain,  passes,  in  a 
distance  of  4^-  miles,  through  the  backbone  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  then  through  what 
is  called  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  to  Buchanan.  The  whole  distance  from  Lynchburg  to 
Buchanan  is  50  miles,  and  the  lockage  between  those  points  is  299  feet,  or  about  six 
feet  per  mile.  Twenty-two  miles  is  canal  and  twenty-eigiit  miles  is  lock  and  dam  na\i- 
gation.  At  the  mouth  of  North  River,  23  miles  above  Lynchburg,  there  is  a  lateral 
canal,  extendin:"  along  the  margin  of  Xorth  River  to  Lexington,  a  distance  of  19|  miles, 
10  miles  of  which  is  canal  and  9|  miles  is  slack-water  navigation,  the  total  lockage  being 
188  feet,  or  9 J  f^et  to  the  mile. 

Between  Lynchburg  and  Buchanan  there  are  four  stone  dams  and  seven  timber  dams. 
On  the  Xorth  River  improvement  there  are  nine  stone  dams  and  one  timber  dam. 

TThere  the  canal  passes  through  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountain,  there  is  in  a  distance  of  4J 
miles  a  lockage  of  60^  feet,  or  an  ascent  of  13  3S-100  feet  per  mile. 

The  canal  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan  was  completed  in  1850,  and  has  been  in  ope- 
ration eighteen  years.  During  that  time  there  have  been  many  and  very  high  freshets, 
and  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  considerable  damage  has  been  inflicted ;  a  part  of  the 
top  of  two  of  the  dams  has  been  swept  away,  and  a  large  breach  occurred  around  the 
abutmeT;it  of  another,  and  two  large  breaches  have  occurred  in  the  guard  bank  of 
another.  But  there  was  no  necessity  that  any  of  these  disasters  should  have  occurred  ; 
they  were  not  the  consequence  of  the  character  of  the  country,  because  nearly  as  many 
and'  similar  accidents  have  happened  on  the  first  di\ision,  but  of  errors  in  the  location 
and  construction  of  the  work,  errors  which  experience  would  have  avoided,  and  which 
will  not  be  likely  to  occur  again.  But  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  this  connection  is, 
that  the  portion  of  the  canal  which  passes  through  the  heart  of  the  Blue  Ridge  is  the 
very  part  that  has  been  most  exempt  from  injury,  and  has  cost  less  for  its  maintenance 
and  repair,  in  proportion  to  its  lockage,  than  any  other  part  of  the  line.  One  reason  of 
this  is,  that  it  passes  through  an  uncultivated  section  of  country,  and  therefore  there  is 
but  little  deposit  washed  into  the  canal  from  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  or  by  the  small 
streams  that  empty  in  it. 

On  the  North  River  improvement,  ^^hich  traverses  along  the  western  base  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  where  the  fall  is  9  J  feet  to  the  mile,  and  where  there  is  a  dam  for  every  two  miles, 
no  accident  has  ever  happened  to  a  dam  from  high  water.  One  dam  has  partially  failed 
from  having  been  built  on  an  insecure  foundation.  This  portion  of  the  improvement 
was  constructed  with  inadequate  funds,  and  consequently  the  work  was  of  an  inferior 
description.  The  dams  were  built  of  rubble  masonry  and  without  cement ;  neverthe- 
less, with  the  exception  mentioned  above,  they  have  stood  well,  and  have  sufiered  no 
injury  from  the  frequent  high  freshets  to  which  they  have  been  subjected. 

A  pretty  good  test  of  the  comparative  stability  of  mountain  canals  may  be  made  by  a 
comparison  of  the  cost  of  repairs  of  the  first  and  second  divisions  of  the  canal,  as  shown 
in  the  following  tables,  ranging  from  1851  to  1868,  inclusive  : 

Cost  of  repairs  of  James  Elver  and  Kanaicha  Canal  for  18  years,  from  1851  to  1868. 


Length ; 
miles. 

Lockage  ; 
feet. 

Total  cost  for 
la  years. 

Average  cost 
per  annum. 

Co3t  per  mile 
per  licaum. 

60 

429 
299 

$1,S19,.')S9 
726,871 

$101,063 
40,322 

$690 
8w7 

Second  diviiiioa — Mountain  

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  the  cost  of  repairs  of  the  second  or  moun- 
tain division  of  the  canal  was  about  17  per  cent,  more  than  that  of  the  first  or  Piedmont 
division,  which  may  readily  be  accounted  for  by  the  increased  number  of  mechanical 
structures  on  the  mountain  division,  there  being  on  the  first  division  a  lock  for  every  2f 
miles,  and  a  dam  for  every  16  miles,  while  on  the  second  division  there  is  a  lock  for 
every  1 .3  miles,  and  a  dam  for  every  3 J  miles. 

But  if  we  include  the  North  River  improvement  the  comparison  is  still  more  faTorable 
for  the  mountain  division,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  table  : 


100  JAMBS  RIVBR  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL 


Cost  of  repairs  of  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  for  eight  years  from,  1861  to  1868. 


Length ; 
miles. 

Lockage; 
feet. 

Total  cost  for 
8  years . 

Average  cost 
per  annum. 

Cost  per  mile 
per  annum. 

146  >^ 
6954 

429 
487 

$1,111,367 
529,669 

$138,933 
66,208 

if 

Second  division  and  North  River  im- 
provement. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  for  the  last  eight  years  the  cost  of  repairs  of  the  mountain 
division  has  been  about  the  same  per  mile  as  that  of  the  Piedmont  division,  after  adding 
on  to  it  19|  miles  of  what  may  be  more  strictly  called  mountain  canal  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  line,  a  canal  that  has  a  lock  for  every  nine-tenths  of  a  mile,  and  a  dam 
for  every  two  miles,  and  an  average  fall  of  9^  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  stability  of  the  Korth  River  Canal  and  the  small  cost  of  its  repairs  (only  $356 
per  mile  per  annum  for  the  last  eight  years),  notwithstanding  its  imperfect  construc- 
tion, is  a  standing  reply  to  any  objections  that  may  be  urged  against  the  improvement 
of  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers  by  locks  and  dams.  The  fall  in  the  Greenbrier  is 
6.37  feet  per  mile,  very  nearly  the  same  as  that  in  the  James  from  Lychburg  to 
Buchanan;  there  can,  therefore,  be  hardly  any  reasonable  objection  raised  to  the  im- 
provement of  that  river.  The  fall  in  ISTew  River  averages  10.4  feet  per  mile  or  about 
10  inches  more  per  mile  than  that  in  North  River.  Is  there  anything,  then,  in  the 
characteristics  of  New  River  to  render  its  improvement  impracticable  or  even  formi- 
dable ?  We  have  seen  that  the  North  River,  with  nearly  as  much  fall,  and  the  James 
River,  through  the  heart  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  with  3  feet  more  fall  per  mile,  havS  been 
successfully  improved,  and  that  these  portions  of  the  canal  have  cost  less  to  maintain 
them  than  any  other  part  of  the  canal.  Moreover,  as  already  remarked,  the  character 
of  the  work  on  the  North  River  is  inferior,  the  dams  being  built  of  dry  rubble  masonry. 
It  is  intended  to  construct  the  locks  and  dams  on  the  New  River  of  the  very  best 
description  of  mortared  masonry,  that  will  defy  the  invasion  of  the  river,  let  it  rage 
never  so  high.  I  feel  confident  on  that  score  from  the  long  experience  that  I  have  had 
in  building  dams,  and  from  the  improvement  in  their  construction  that  have  been 
suggested  and  adopted,  after  much  observation  of  the  causes  of  the  failure  of  some  of 
the  stone  dams  on  James  River.  These  improvements  consist  chieliy  in  varying  the 
proportions  of  the  dams  without  increasing  their  area  of  cross-section,  or  in  giving  them 
less  thickness  at  the  bottom  and  more  at  the  top,  giving  a  double  slope  to  the  coping, 
and  protecting  it  with  timber  and  plank.  New  dams,  recently  constructed  on  these 
principles  below  the  old  dams,  have,  even  when  unfinished,  stood  such  tests  as  I  am  sure 
they  never  could  be  subjected  to  under  any  other  circumstances. 

New  River  runs  chiefly  through  a  wild,  uncultivated  country,  its  banks  are  rock- 
bound  and  wooded,  and  consequently  the  ponds  will  not  be  so  liable  to  be  filled  up  by 
deposits  from  the  hillsides,  as  they  would  be  if  they  were  bounded  by  cultivated  lands. 

There  need  be  no  apprehension  in  regard  to  the  extraordinary  height  of  the  freshets 
in  New  River,  because,  after  a  fresh  has  passed  a  certain  height,  by  the  equalization  of 
the  water  above  and  below  the  dam,  the  danger  begins  to  diminish,  and  there  is  really 
no  more  danger  to  the  dams  in  a  very  high  fresh  than  in  one  of  ordinary  height,  and  the 
double  slope  given  to  the  combs  of  the  dams  will  throw  the  water  in  its  overfall  so  far 
from  the  base  as  to  prevent  any  danger  of  undermining  the  foundations. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  the  work  on  the  Greenbrier  and  New  Rivers,  if  properly  exe- 
cuted, will  be  the  most  permanent,  and  will  cost  less  per  mile  to  repair  than  any  other 
part  of  the  line,  except  the  Kanawha  River. 
Very  respectfully, 

E.  LORRAINE, 

Engineer  and  Superintendent. 

R.  W.  Hughes,  Esq., 

Chairman  of  Sub-  Committee  to  draught  report. 


*  Ths  reason  why  the  average  cost  per  mile  appears  to  be  so  much  greater  daring  the  last  eight  years 
Is,  that  for  four  years,  or  one-half  the  time,  the  cost  is  computed  in  confederate  currency.  For  the 
same  reason,  though  in  a  less  degree,  the  average  annual  cost  of  repairs  in  the  first  table  is  consider- 
ably increased.  The  average  cost  per  mile  for  the  ten  years  preceding  1861  was  $483  on  the  first  di- 
visipp,  and  $506  on  the  second  division 


JAMES  KIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


101 


MEMORIAL  OF  THE  DELEGATES  TO  THE  NATIONAL  BOARD  OF  TRADE  ON 
THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  JAMES  RIYER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL,  REPORTE  D 
IN  THE  CINCINNATI  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  AND  APPROVED  MARCH, 
1870. 

To  the  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

It,  perhaps,  devolves  upon  your  delegates  to  the  National  Board  of  Trade  to  call  your 
special  attention  to  the  action  of  that  body  in  respect  to  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Canal  project,  and  submit  some  suggestions  for  your  consideration  which  will  bring 
that  important  undertaking  more  prominently,  not  only  before  the  business  men  of  this 
city,  but  before  the  public  at  large. 

The  final  action  of  the  National  Board  of  Trade  was  embodied  in  the  following  reso- 
lutions, which  constitute  the  conclusions  of  a  report  upon  the  subject  made  by  a  special 
committee  of  the  board  : 

Resolutions  adopted  by  the  2Tational  Board  of  Trade,  at  the  meeting  held  at  Richmond, 

Virginia,  December,  1869, 

Resolved,  That  cheap  transportation  for  the  products  of  the  interior  of  the  country 
is  not  only  a  necessity,  but  is  demanded  by  the  highest  considerations  of  public 
policy. 

Resolved,  That  to  secure  it,  additional,  direct  and  continuous  lines  of  water  com- 
munications are  imperatively  needed,  and  should  be  provided,  between  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  not  only  as  a  means  of  freightage,  but  in  order  that 
requisite  competition  may  be  maintained  between  transportation  lines. 

Resolved,  That  as  one  of  these  means  of  water  communications,  the  route  to  be  af- 
forded by  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  if  extended  to  the  Ohio.  River,  as  pro- 
posed, has  special  prominence. 

Resolved,  That  the  work  necessary  for  the  completion  of  this  canal,  on  the  scale 
deemed  essential  for  its  great  object,  is  demonstrated  by  eminent  engineers  to  be  prac- 
ticable of  early  completion  and  feasible. 

Resolved,  That  such  a  work  would  be  national  in  its  character,  and  entitled  to  receive 
national  aid,  to  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  possible  period. 

Resolved,  That  in  order  that  it  shall  inure  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  all 
private  and  corporate  proprietorship  in  it  should  be  removed,  (which  removal  should  be 
a  condition  precedent  to  tlie  grant  of  aid  by  the  General  Government,)  and  when  the 
cost  of  construction,  as  represented  by  the  outlay  of  the  State  of  Virginia  and  of  the 
nation,  shall  be  fully  reimbursed,  that  the  commerce  conducted  on  the  canal  shall  be 
subjected  only  to  such  tolls  as  may  be  necessary  for  its  repairs. 

Resolved,  That  the  executive  council  be  directed  to  memorialize  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  in  reference  to  the  subject  of  extending  aid  by  a  loan  of  its  credit,  to 
stand  as  a  first  lien  on  the  work,  to  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  project,  as 
herein  set  forth,  praying  its  consideration  at  an  early  day. 

Resolved,  That  the  executive  council  be  directed  to  suggest  in  the  memorial  to  Con- 
gress, that  the  prosecution  of  the  work  and  the  management  of  the  property,  when  it 
shall  have  been  completed,  be  committed  to  a  board  of  eleven  trustees,  one  of  whom 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  one  by  the  State  of  Iowa, 
one  by  the  State  of  Missouri,  one  by  the  State  of  Arkansas,  one  by  the  State  of  Illinois, 
one  by  the  State  of  Indiana,  one  by  the  State  of  Kentucky,  one  by  the  State  of  Ohio, 
one  by  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  one  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  one  by  the  State 
of  Maryland  ;  and  that  the  work  be  prosecuted  under  the  direction  of  Government  en- 
gineers. 

Memorial  of  the  State  of  loica. 

The  first  introduction  of  this  subject  to  the  attention  of  our  Chamber  of  Commerce 
was  through  a  memorial  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  contained  these 
words  :  "That  the  great  want  of  that  State  is  cheap  transportation  for  its  heavy  pro- 
ducts to  the  markets  of  the  world  ;  that  the  most  feasible  plan  to  secure  this  end  is  to 
provide  a  direct  and  continuous  line  of  water  communication  between  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  Atlantic  ocean,  in  a  latitude  favorable  to  the  safe  carriage  of  grain  in 
bulk,  and  yet  comparatively  free  from  obstructions  by  frost ;"  and  "that  such  com- 
munication, they  believe,  could  be  secured  most  readily  by  the  Ohio,  Kanawha,  and 
James  Rivers,  to  Norfolk,  Virginia."  And  then,  after  submitting  to  the  consideration 
of  Congress  an  array  of  facts  and  arguments  demonstrating  the  vast  importance,  espe- 
cially to  the  West,  of  the- proposed  water  line  through  Virginia,  the  memorial  con- 
cludes as  follows  :  "This  is  a  work  of  great  national  importance  ;  its  benefits  will  be 
shared  directly  by  more  than  half  the  people  of  this  country,  and  indirectly  by  all.  It 
is  a  work  to  be  done  by  the  whole  country  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country — it  be- 
longs to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Nothing  need  be  donated ;  an  advance 
upon  good  security  for  the  return  of  principal  and  interest,  is  all  that  will  be  necessary. — 


102 


JAMBS  RIVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


Not  only  will  the  advance  be  returned  in  kind  with  the  interest,  but  the  benefits  of  each 
year  will  return  the  outlay  more  than  five-fold.  Instead  of  increasing  our  national  bur- 
den of  taxation,  it  will  so  increase  the  means  of  payment  as  to  greatly  lessen  it." 

The  necessity  of  a  convention  of  representatives  from  all  the  cities  and  States  inter- 
ested was  urged  with  great  force.  But  before  proceeding  to  ask  a  co-operative  move- 
ment of  the  cities,  towns,  and  States,  as  invited  in  said  memorial,  it  was  thought  best 
by  the  friends  of  this  movement  to  obtain  from  an  authoritative  source  a  carefully 
prepared  and  reliable  statement  setting  forth  the  history,  character,  description,  pro- 
gress, and  condition  of  said  improvement ;  its  feasibility  and  capacity,  with  a  compari- 
son in  every  respect  with  all  other  lines  of  communication  to  and  from  the  West  and 
the  seaboard,  with  respect  to  safety,  quickness,  regularity,  and  cheapness,  with  all  the 
other  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  completion  of  said  water  line,  direct  and  inci- 
dental. To  this  request  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Company  have  responded  by 
causing  to  be  prepared  and  published  a  pamphlet,  by  a  gentleman  eminently  qualified 
for  the  task,  setting  forth  an  array  of  facts  and  arguments  which  must  command  atten- 
tion as  to  the  proper  development  of  the  West  especially,  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
whole  country,  of  the  speedy  completion  of  the  proposed  central  water  line,  connect- 
ing the  Atlantic  with  the  Mississippi  Yalley.  *  *  *  *  * 

In  this  pamphlet  is  also  embodied  the  report  of  E.  Lorraine,  chief  engineer  of  the" 
company,  a  gentleman  of  high  character  and  eminent  in  his  profession.  This  report  is 
characterized  by  a  candor  and  fairness  of  statement  which  does  not  pretend  to  conceal 
the  expenses,  difficulties,  and  obstacles  of  the  undertaking,  but  admits  and  meets  them, 
fairly  and  squarely,  a  fact  commending  it  to  the  confidence  of  the  public,  both  for  its 
scientific  ability  and  for  the  integrity  it  displays.  *  *  *  +  >ic 

The  light  thrown  upon  the  history  and  character  of  this  great  enterprise,  and  of  the 
great  benefits  to  fiow  from  its  completion  to  the  whole  country,  and  especially  to  the 
great  West,  would  seem  to  justify  the  strong  language  of  the  Iowa  memorial,  that  it 
will  furnish  a  cheap  and  truly  valuable  line  of  transportation  from  the  East  to  the 
West,  and  besides  the  immense  advantages  to  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  inter- 
ests of  the^East,  will  be  a  vast  saving  to  the  West  in  transportation  alone. 

LOCATION  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  WORK. 

The  proposed  water  line  through  Virginia  will  connect  the  Ohio  River  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Kanawha,  284  miles  below  Pittsburg,  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  at  or 
near  the  mouth  of  the  James  River,  by  an  aggregate  distance  of  about  611  miles. 

Commencing  on  the  Ohio  River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  River,  the  first  90 
miles  of  navigation  is  to  he  made  by  deepening  the  channel  of  the  latter  stream,  where 
necessary,  so  as  to  give  a  depth  of  six  feet  water  at  all  times,  and  sufiiciently  wide  for 
steamers*  towing  barges;  thence  119  miles  farther,  ascending  Kanawha,  IS'ew,  and  Green- 
brier Rivers,  by  lock  and  dam  ;  the  locks  200  feet  long  and  40  feet  wide,  and  the  depth 
of  water,  both  in  the  locks  and  in  the  channel,  to  be  at  all  times  7  feet— this  portion, 
also,  to  be  navigable  for  steamboats  and  barges,  or  canal-boats.  Having  reached  the 
point  208  miles  from  the  Ohio,  the  canal  proper  commences,  and  continues  through  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  to  Richmond,  about  275  miles,  where  it  locks  down  into  tide-water  : 
thence  by  the  James  River,  about  125  miles,  to  Newport  News,  where,  or  at  Norfolk, 
or  at  some  other  place  in  that  vicinity,  ocean  navigation  will  be  reached. 

The  canal  proper  is  to  be  70  feet  wide  at  the  water  line,  42  wide  at  the  bottom,  with 
7  feet  depth  of  v/ater,  and  with  locks  120  feet  long  and  20  feet  wide,  with  capacity  to 
pass  boats  of  280  tons  burden,  or  one-sixth  greater  capacity  than  the  Erie  Canal,  as 
enlarged. 

The  practical  capacity  of  the  canal  proper,  with  its  locks,  will,  it  is  claimed,  exceed 
fifteen  millions  of  tons  per  annum.  The  balance  of  the  water  line  will  be  of  much 
greater,  and  comparatively  of  unlimited  capacity. 

The  distance  from  the  waters  of  the  Greenbrier  River,  running  west  from  the  point 
where  the  canal  leaves  it,  to  the  waters  of  the  James  River  flowing  east  into  the  Atlan- 
tic, where  the  canal  strikes  that  stream,  is  from  to  33  miles,  as  the  longer  or  shorter 
route  may  be  determined  on.  Reaching  the  waters  of  the  James  River  at  the  eastern 
base  of  the  main  ridge  of  the  AUeghanies,  the  water  line  follows  that  stream  to  the 
Atlantic  sea-port,  which,  whether  it  be  at  Norfolk  or  Hampton  Roads,  will  have  the 
best  harbor  and  outlet  on  the  Atlantic. 

With  this  improvement  completed,  the  commerce  of  the  Missouri,  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  Ohio  Rivers,  with  their  many  tributaries,  will  have  an  excellent  highway  to  the 
sea  in  desirable  competition  with  those  now  in  existence. 

Over  the  Northern  water  line  it  will  always  have  the  advantage  of  being  free  from 
obstructions  by  frost  for  at  least  four  months  of  every  year,  and  at  the  time  when  most 
needed. 

In  the  language  of  the  writer  of  the  pamphlet  referred  to,  "it  offers  a  channel  of  nav- 
igation from  the  West  to  East  shorter  than  any  other,  cheaper  than  any  other,  more  ex- 
peditious, and  more  free  from  all  obstructions  arising  froni  climate  or  a  public  enemy, 


JAMES  MVER  AND  KANAWHA  CANAL. 


103 


than  all  the  rest.  Its  only  rivals  in  capacity  for  western  trade  are  the  Mississippi  and 
Gulf  route  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  great  Lake  Erie  and  St.  Lawrence  route  on  the 
other,  both  of  which  are  circuitous,  while  this  central  one  is  direct.  Both  of  the  other 
routes  take  American  produce  out  of  the  Union,  in  transporting  it  from  one  part  of  the 
Union  to  the  other,  subjecting  it  to  the  dangers  of  war;  and  while  one  subjects  our 
national  products  to  the  damaging  effects  of  a  semi-tropical  climate,  and  the  hazards  of 
gulf  and  coast  navigation,  the  other  renders  it  liable  to  be  seized  and  held  for  months 
by  the  ice,  or  wrecked  and  lost  by  the  lake  storms. 

"^More  than  25,000,000  tons  of  freight  per  annum,  it  is  com.puted,  now  passes  over  the 
various  lines  of  transportation,  back  and  forth,  from  west  to  east,  and  east  to  west, 
which  at  a  saving  of  only  five  dollars  reduction  per  ton,  will  make  an  aggregate  of  one 
hundred  and  imeniy-five  millions  of  dollars  annually. 

The  increased  facilities  and  greatly  cheapened  transportation  to  be  secured  by  this 
improvement  will  not  only  enure  to  the  benefit  of  the  great  agricultural  interest  of  the 
West,  but  its  advantages  must  be  largely  shared  by  the  commercial  and  mining  inter- 
ests of  the  whole  country. 

Besides  the  special  advantage  to  the  "West,  and  the  general  benefit  to  the  whole 
country,  in  cheaper  transportation  of  merchandise  and  produce,  there  is  also  an  ad- 
vantage to  result  from  its  construction,  from  the  character  of  the  productions  of  the 
country  through  which  it  passes,  that  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  passes  through 
the  heart  of  the  Kanawha  mineral  region,  which  so  richly  abounds  in  iron,  coal,  salt,  &c. 
The  value  of  the  coal  in  this  field  would  alone  almost  justify  this  work. 

The  pamphlet  referred  to  says,  concerning  - 

THE  GREAT  KAXAWHA    COAL  FIELDS 

of  West  Virginia,  that  they  are  superior  to  those  of  Great  Britain  or  Pennsylvania. 
They  are  regarded  by  eminent  geologists  as  the  finest  deposits  of  coal  in  the  world. 
The  quality  of  the  Kanawha  cannel  coal  is  equal  to  the  best  English  cannel ;  the  quality 
of  its  bituminous  coal  is  equal  to  the  best  found  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  the  Kanawha 
splint  coal  for  smelting  iron  ore  is  unsurpassed.  The  veins  lie  horizontally  and  vary 
from  three  feet  to  fifteen  feet  in  thickness  ;  and  the  aggregate  thickness  of  the  various 
veins  in  some  localities  amounts  to  forty  and  even  fii'ty  feet  of  solid  coal.  A  prominent 
advantage  claimed  for  the  Kanawha  coal  fields  over  those  near  Pittsburg  is  that  the 
Kanawha  coal  fields  contain  as  good  bituminous  coal  as  the  best  found  in  the  Monon- 
gahela  and  Youghiogheny,  and  in  addition  thereto  large  deposits  of  cannel  coal,  equal 
in  quality  to  the  finest  English  cannel,  none  of  which  is  found  in  the  Monongahela  coal 
fields. 

The  cannel  coal  of  the  Kanawha  region,  reported  to  be  fully  equal  in  quality  to  the 
best  coals  of  England  and  Nova  Scotia,  is  so  valuable  that  even  now,  under  the  greatest 
disadvantages,  it  is  sent  out  of  the  Kanawha  River  to  the  Ohio,  thence  down  through 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  by  New  Orleans  and  the  Gulf,  around  to  New  York,  and  sold 
at  a  profit,  bringing  about  three  times  as  much  per  ton  as  anthracite  in  that  market. 

But  it  is  to  the  West,  and  especially  to  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri  region, 
that  the  greatest  benefit  is  to  be  derived.  Vessels  which  have  gone  from  the  great  rivers 
of  the  West  up  into  the  Kanawha  River  freighted  with  produce  for  an  eastern  market, 
will,  when  their  cargoes  are  discharged  into  the  canal-boats,  be  empty  and  wanting  re- 
turn freight;  this,  the  coal,  the  salt,  the  iron  and  the  lumber  of  that  region  will  give 
them,  and  they  will  be  able  to  bring  back  bituminous,  splint  and  cannel  coal,  all  of  the 
very  best  quality,  and  discharge  along  the  great  rivers. 

HOW  CAN  THE  WORK  BE  DONE? — HOW  SHOULD  IT  BE  DOXE  ? 

The  company  for  the  construction  of  this  work  have  already  expended  twelve  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Their  means  are  exhausted ;  they  can  do  no  more.  They  can  only 
offer  their  work  as  a  basis  of  credit  for  the  amount  needed  for  its  completion.  By  a 
loan  of  Government  bonds  for  the  purpose,  the  work  can  be  accomplished  speedily. 

SHALL  THE  GOVERNMENT  DO  THIS? 

The  answer  to  this  question  should  be  determined  by  the  assurance  of  the  entire 
practicability  of  the  work.  To  ascertain  this,  a  corps  of  Government  engineers  should 
make  a  survey  of  the  whole  route.  If  their  report  confirms  the  statements  herein  made, 
and  fully  establishes  the  feasibility  of  this  work,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  the  benefits  to 
be  derived,  and  the  security  of  a  first  mortgage  to  the  Government  for  a  loan  of  bonds, 
or  an  indorsement  of  the  bonds  of  the  canal  company,  be  sufficient ;  then,  in  that  event, 
we  feel  that  the  request  of  the  people  of  the  West  for  the  aid  of  the  Government  is 
reasonable,  and  should  be  acceded  to. 

Whereas  the  States  of  Virginia  and  West  Virginia,  and  the  James  River  and  Ka- 
nawha Canal  Company,  represent  that  they  are  prepared  to  surrender"  their  valuable 
franchise  in  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  route,  on  condition  that  the  National 
Government  will  open  the  projected  route  from  the  Ohio  River  to  tide-water  ;  and 


104 


JAMES  RIVEIl  AND  KANAWHA  dANAL* 


Whereas  the  opening  of  this  channel  of  commnnication  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
if  demonstrated  to  be  feasible,  would  afford  another  outlet  to  a  market  for  the  surplus 
products  of  the  West,  and  cheapen  transportation  through  healthful  competition  with 
other  routes  to  the  seaboard,  and  thus  add  to  the  home  value  of  the  cereals  and  other 
industrial  productions  of  the  West :  Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  governor  of  the  State  of  Ohio  be  requested  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  legislature  of  this  State  to  this  project,  by  special  message,  presenting  the  im- 
portance of  increased  facilities  of  transportation  to  ih6  seaboard,  and  requesting  the 
legislature  to  memorialize  Congress  to  order  a  thorough  survey  of  the  proposed  canal 
route  by  competent  Government  engineers,  and  the  publication  of  their  report  as  to  its 
practicability  and  probable  cost ;  and  that  he  be  also  requested  to  solicit,  through  official 
correspondence,  the  co-operation  of  the  governors  and  legislatures  of  the  States  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Indiana  in  this  movement  for  the  survey  of  the  proposed  route  by  9,  corps  of 
Government  engineers. 

JOHN  A.  GANO, 

JAMES  F.  TORRENCE, 

THEO.  COOK, 

WM.  HOOPER, 

S.  LESTER  TAYLOR, 

Committee. 


CALL  NUMBER 

: — 1  n  y 


Vol. 


Date  (for  periodical) 


386    J27Z    v.l    no.l«7  317t 


